Communication system communication method, contents processing device, and computer program

ABSTRACT

A communication system and so forth are provided by which registration or cancellation of a plurality of apparatus owned by a user can be executed efficiently. In the communication system, a content processing apparatus acquires a second source ID list of a content reproduction apparatus. If it is detected based on the second source ID list that the content reproduction apparatus is not yet registered in a management server and a recorder ID of the content processing apparatus is not yet registered in the second source ID list, the content processing apparatus recommends registration. If a registration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus is accepted, the content processing apparatus requests the management server to register the content reproduction apparatus. The content processing apparatus receives registration completion transmitted from the management server and adds a group ID stored in a first source ID list to the second source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus. If the registration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus into the management server is not accepted, then the content processing apparatus adds the recorder ID of the content processing apparatus to the second source ID list.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a copyright management system for managing thecopyright of content data between a plurality of content processingapparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Different from customary analog contents, digital contents of music andso forth can be copied by a plural number of times without sufferingfrom any deterioration of the quality. Therefore, in recent years,illegal distribution and exchange of contents which are not permitted bythe owner of the copyright have been and are increasing together withthe popularization of the Internet and increase of the speed and thecapacity of PCs (Personal Computers) and so forth.

In order to prevent such illegal acts, a copyright management systemwhich makes use of a DRM (Digital Rights Management) technique ofrestricting the distribution and utilization of contents is beingpopularized. In the copyright management system mentioned, it is apopular method that the number of copies of an original content ismanaged strictly to restrict illegal copying as proposed by the SDMI(Secure Digital Music Initiative) and so forth (refer to, for example,Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-296486)).

However, a copyright management system of such a type wherein the numberof copies of an original content is managed strictly as described aboveadopts such a configuration that, when a content is to be copied, anapparatus of a user of the content (a content processing apparatus, acontent reproduction apparatus or the like) is connected to a managementserver which manages the total number of copies such that copying of thecontent is permitted/inhibited by the management server. Therefore, notonly the performance of apparatus of content users, the connectionscheme of a plurality of apparatus and so forth are restricted, but alsoa copyright management process must be executed every time copying of acontent is performed, which is inefficient. Accordingly, the degree offreedom in utilization of contents is low, and particularly to a legalcontent user (that is, a person who pays a reasonable equivalent to acontent producer and utilizes a content within a range of private use),when a plurality of apparatus are utilized to share a content, thedegree of freedom in design is low, which is inconvenient.

Furthermore, in order for a content user to utilize a content, it isnecessary for the content user to register one, two or more apparatusowned by the content user in some registration, which is inconvenientalso to the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the problem describedabove, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a noveland improved communication system, communication method, contentmanagement apparatus and computer program by which a plurality ofapparatus owned by the user can be registered and cancelled efficiently.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In order to solve the subject described above, according to a firstaspect of the present invention, there is provided a communicationsystem which includes a content processing apparatus for recordingand/or reproducing content data, a content reproduction apparatusconnectable for communication to the content processing apparatus forreproducing at least content data, and a management server connectablefor communication to the content processing apparatus for managing thecontent processing apparatus and the content reproduction apparatus. Thecontent processing apparatus may include a reproduction control sectionfor controlling reproduction of the content data based on a first sourceID list which is possessed by the content processing apparatus itselfand is a list of source IDs with regard to which reproduction ispermitted from among source IDs representative of providing sources ofcontent data and to which a group ID which is produced in a unit of auser is added when the content processing apparatus is registered in aunit of a user into the management server, an acquisition section foracquiring a second source ID list stored in the content reproductionapparatus from the content reproduction apparatus, a detection sectionfor detecting based on the second source ID list acquired by theacquisition section whether the content reproduction apparatus isregistered in the management server and whether a recorder ID which isapplied when the content processing apparatus itself produces contentdata is registered in the second source ID list, a notification sectionfor outputting notification information for recommendation ofregistration into the management server when it is detected by thedetection section that the content reproduction apparatus is notregistered in the management server and that the recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus itself is notregistered in the second source ID list, a registration requestinformation transmission section for transmitting, when a registrationinstruction of the content reproduction apparatus into the managementserver is accepted, registration request information for requesting forregistration of the content reproduction apparatus to the managementserver, a reception section for receiving registration completioninformation representative of completion of registration transmitted asa response to the registration request information from the managementserver, a group ID addition section for adding, upon reception of theregistration completion information, the group ID stored in the firstsource ID list to the second source ID list of the content reproductionapparatus, and a recorder ID addition section for adding, when theregistration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus into themanagement server is not accepted, the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus to the second source ID list of the contentreproduction apparatus. The management server may include a registrationcompletion information transmission section for registering the contentreproduction apparatus into a registration record in a unit of a user inresponse to the registration request information and transmittingregistration completion information representative of completion of theregistration to the content processing apparatus. The contentreproduction apparatus may include a reproduction control section forcontrolling reproduction of content data, which is distributed with thesource ID applied thereto, based on the second source ID list which ispossessed by the content reproduction apparatus itself and to which agroup ID same as that of the content processing apparatus is added whenthe content reproduction apparatus is registered into the registrationrecord of the registered user of the content processing apparatusmanaged by the management server through the content processingapparatus.

According to the present invention, when the content reproductionapparatus is connected to the content processing apparatus, the contentprocessing apparatus acquires the second source ID list possessed by thecontent reproduction apparatus and detects a registration situation ofthe content reproduction apparatus. If a recorder ID same as that of thecontent processing apparatus itself is not registered, then the contentprocessing apparatus issues a notification of service registration ofthe content reproduction apparatus. Then, if the service registration isnot to be performed, then the content processing apparatus automaticallyperforms local registration of the content reproduction apparatus.According to the configuration described, since the content processingapparatus precisely decides whether or not local or service registrationshould be performed in response to a registration situation of thecontent reproduction apparatus, the content processing apparatus canautomatically perform local registration. Accordingly, the user cancarry out the procedure smoothly without being requested to perform aspecial process.

The communication system may be configured such that, when the detectionsection detects a recorder ID corresponding to a different contentprocessing apparatus in the second source ID list possessed by thecontent reproduction apparatus and besides detects that content datatransferred from the different content processing apparatus does notexist in the content reproduction apparatus, the recorder ID additionsection erases the recorder ID corresponding to the different contentprocessing apparatus in the second source ID list and adds the recorderID corresponding to the content processing apparatus to the secondsource ID list. According to the configuration described, even where arecorder ID of a different content processing apparatus other than thecontent processing apparatus of the destination of the connection isregistered in the source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus,when content data does not exist on the content reproduction apparatusside, the content reproduction apparatus can be locally registeredrapidly and efficiently. Consequently, the user can carry out theprocedure smoothly without being requested to perform a special process.

The communication system may be configured such that, when the detectionsection detects a recorder ID corresponding to a different contentprocessing apparatus in the second source ID list and besides detectsthat content data transferred from the different content processingapparatus exists in the content reproduction apparatus, the notificationsection outputs notification information for recommendation of erasureof the content data transferred from the different content processingapparatus, and, after erasure of the content data transferred from thedifferent content processing apparatus is detected by the detectionsection, the recorder ID addition section erases the recorder IDcorresponding to the different content processing apparatus in thesecond source ID list and adds the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus to the second source ID list.

In order to solve the subject described above, according to anotheraspect of the present invention, there is provided a content processingapparatus for recording and/or reproducing content data, the contentprocessing apparatus being connectable for communication to a contentreproduction apparatus which reproduces at least content data andconnectable for communication to a management server which at leastmanages the content reproduction apparatus. The content processingapparatus may include a reproduction control section for controllingreproduction of the content data based on a first source ID list whichis possessed by the content processing apparatus itself and is a list ofsource IDs with regard to which reproduction is permitted from amongsource IDs representative of providing sources of content data and towhich a group ID which is produced in a unit of a user is added when thecontent processing apparatus is registered in a unit of a user into themanagement server, an acquisition section for acquiring a second sourceID list stored in the content reproduction apparatus from the contentreproduction apparatus, a detection section for detecting based on thesecond source ID list acquired by the acquisition section whether thecontent reproduction apparatus is registered in the management serverand whether a recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus itself is registered in the second source ID list, and arecorder ID addition section for adding, when it is detected by thedetection section that the content reproduction apparatus is notregistered in the management server and that the recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus itself is notregistered in the second source ID list and besides a registrationinstruction of the content reproduction apparatus into the managementserver is not inputted, the recorder ID corresponding to the contentprocessing apparatus itself to the second source ID list of the contentreproduction apparatus.

The content processing apparatus may be configured such that, when it isdetected by the detection section that the content reproductionapparatus is not registered in the management server and it is detectedby the detection section that the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus is not registered in the second source IDlist, the content processing apparatus further comprises a notificationsection for outputting notification information for recommendation ofregistration into the management server, a registration requestinformation transmission section for transmitting, when an input of aregistration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus into themanagement server is accepted, registration request information forrequesting for registration of the content processing apparatus to themanagement server, a reception section for receiving registrationcompletion information representative of completion of registrationtransmitted as a response to the registration request information fromthe management server, and a group ID addition section for adding, uponreception of the registration completion information, the group IDregistered in the first source ID list to the second source ID list ofthe content reproduction apparatus.

The content processing apparatus may be configured such that, when it isdetected by the detection section that the content reproductionapparatus is not registered in the management server and it is detectedby the detection section that the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus is not registered in the second source IDlist, the content processing apparatus further comprises a notificationsection for outputting notification information for recommendation ofregistration into the management server, a registration requestinformation transmission section for transmitting, when an input of aregistration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus into themanagement server is accepted, registration request information forrequesting for registration of the content processing apparatus to themanagement server, a reception section for receiving registrationcompletion information representative of completion of registrationtransmitted as a response to the registration request information fromthe management server, and a group ID addition section for adding, uponreception of the registration completion information, the group IDregistered in the first source ID list to the second source ID list ofthe content reproduction apparatus.

The content processing apparatus may be configured such that, when thedetection section detects a recorder ID corresponding to a differentcontent processing apparatus in the second source ID list and besidesdetects that content data transferred from the different contentprocessing apparatus does not exist in the content reproductionapparatus, the recorder ID addition section erases the recorder IDcorresponding to the different content processing apparatus in thesecond source ID list and adds the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus itself to the second source ID list.

The content processing apparatus may further comprise a notificationsection for outputting, when the detection section detects a recorder IDcorresponding to a different content processing apparatus in the secondsource ID list and besides detects that content data transferred fromthe different content processing apparatus exists in the contentreproduction apparatus, a notification for recommendation of erasure ofthe content data transferred from the different content processingapparatus. After the detection section detects that the content datatransferred from the different content processing apparatus is erased,the recorder ID addition section erases the recorder ID corresponding tothe different content processing apparatus in the second source ID listand adds the recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus itself to the second source ID list.

The content processing apparatus may be configured such that it furthercomprises a notification section for outputting notification informationfor recommendation of registration into the management server when it isdetected by the detection section that the content processing apparatusitself is not registered in the management server and it is detected bythe detection section that the recorder ID corresponding to the contentprocessing apparatus is not registered in the second source ID list, aregistration request information transmission section for transmitting,when an input of a registration instruction of the content reproductionapparatus and/or the content processing apparatus into the managementserver is accepted, registration request information for requesting forregistration of the content reproduction apparatus and/or the contentprocessing apparatus into the management server, a reception section forreceiving registration completion information representative ofcompletion of registration transmitted as a response to the registrationrequest information from the management server, and a group ID additionsection for registering, upon reception of the registration completioninformation, the group ID into the first source ID list and/or addingthe group ID to the second source ID list of the content reproductionapparatus, and that the group ID addition section further issues a groupcertificate indicating that the recorder ID of the content processingapparatus itself belongs to the group ID registered in the first sourceID list.

In order to solve the subject described hereinabove, according to afurther aspect of the present invention, there is provided acommunication method among a content processing apparatus for recordingand/or reproducing content data, a content reproduction apparatusconnectable for communication to the content processing apparatus forreproducing at least content data, and a management server connectablefor communication to the content processing apparatus for managing thecontent processing apparatus and the content reproduction apparatus. Thecontent processing apparatus may have a reproduction control functionfor controlling based on a first source ID list which is possessed bythe content processing apparatus itself and is a list of source IDs withregard to which reproduction is permitted from among source IDsrepresentative of providing sources of content data and to which a groupID which is produced in a unit of a user is added when the contentprocessing apparatus is registered in a unit of a user into themanagement server. The content reproduction apparatus may have areproduction control function for controlling reproduction of contentdata, which is distributed with the source ID applied thereto, based ona second source ID list which is possessed by the content reproductionapparatus itself and to which a group ID same as that of the contentprocessing apparatus is added when the content reproduction apparatus isregistered into a registration record of the registered user of thecontent processing apparatus managed by the management server throughthe content processing apparatus. The content processing apparatus mayacquire a second source ID list stored in the content reproductionapparatus from the content reproduction apparatus when the connectionfor communication to the content reproduction apparatus is detected. Thecontent processing apparatus may detect based on the second source IDlist whether the content reproduction apparatus is registered in themanagement server and whether a recorder ID which is applied when thecontent processing apparatus produces content data is registered in thesecond source ID list. The content processing apparatus may outputnotification information for recommendation of registration into themanagement server when it is detected that the content reproductionapparatus is not registered in the management server and that therecorder ID is not registered in the second source ID list. The contentprocessing apparatus may transmit, when a registration instruction intothe management server is accepted, registration request information forrequesting for registration of the content reproduction apparatus to themanagement server. The management server may register the contentreproduction apparatus into a registration record in a unit of a user inresponse to the registration request information and transmitsregistration completion information representative of completion of theregistration to the content processing apparatus. The content processingapparatus may add, upon reception of the registration completioninformation, the group ID stored in the first source ID list to thesecond source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus, and thatthe content processing apparatus adds, when the registration instructioninto the management server is not accepted, the recorder ID to thesecond source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus.

Further, the communication method may be configured such that, when thecontent processing apparatus detects a recorder ID corresponding to adifferent content processing apparatus in the second source ID list andbesides detects that content data transferred from the different contentprocessing apparatus does not exist in the content reproductionapparatus, the content processing apparatus erases the recorder IDcorresponding to the different content processing apparatus in thesecond source ID list and adds the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus to the second source ID list.

Further, the communication method may be configured such that, when thecontent processing apparatus detects a recorder ID corresponding to adifferent content processing apparatus in the second source ID list andbesides detects that content data transferred from the different contentprocessing apparatus exists in the content reproduction apparatus, thecontent processing apparatus outputs notification information forrecommendation of erasure of the content data transferred from thedifferent content processing apparatus, and, after erasure of thecontent data transferred from the different content processing apparatusis detected, the content processing apparatus erases the recorder IDcorresponding to the different content processing apparatus in thesecond source ID list and adds the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus to the second source ID list.

In order to solve the subject described hereinabove, according to astill further aspect of the present invention, there is provided acommunication method for a content processing apparatus for recordingand/or reproducing content data, the content processing apparatus beingconnectable for communication to a content reproduction apparatus whichreproduces at least content data and connectable for communication to amanagement server which at least manages the content reproductionapparatus. The content processing apparatus may have a reproductioncontrol function for controlling reproduction of the content data basedon a first source ID list which is possessed by the content processingapparatus itself and is one of source ID lists which are lists of sourceIDs representative of providing sources of content data and to which agroup ID which is produced in a unit of a user is added when the contentprocessing apparatus is registered in a unit of a user into themanagement server. The communication method comprises an acquisitionstep of acquiring a second source ID list stored in the contentreproduction apparatus from the content reproduction apparatus, adetection step of detecting based on the second source ID list acquiredby the acquisition step whether the content reproduction apparatus isregistered in the management server and whether a recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus itself is registeredin the second source ID list, and a recorder ID addition step of adding,when it is detected at the detection step that the content reproductionapparatus is not registered in the management server and that therecorder ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus itself isnot registered in the second source ID list and besides a registrationinstruction of the content reproduction apparatus into the managementserver is not inputted, the recorder ID corresponding to the contentprocessing apparatus itself to the second source ID list of the contentreproduction apparatus.

The communication method may be configured such that, when it isdetected at the detection step that the content reproduction apparatusis not registered in the management server and that the recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus is not registered inthe second source ID list, the communication method further comprises anotification step of outputting a notification for recommendation ofregistration into the management server, a registration requestinformation transmission step of transmitting, when an input of aregistration instruction of the content reproduction apparatus into themanagement server is accepted, registration request information forrequesting for registration of the content processing apparatus to themanagement server, a reception step of receiving registration completioninformation representative of completion of registration transmitted asa response to the registration request information from the managementserver, and a group ID addition step of adding, upon reception of theregistration completion information, the group ID registered in thefirst source ID list to the second source ID list of the contentreproduction apparatus.

The communication method may be configured such that, when, at thedetection step, a recorder ID corresponding to a different contentprocessing apparatus is detected in the second source ID list andbesides it is detected that content data transferred from the differentcontent processing apparatus does not exist in the content reproductionapparatus, at the recorder ID addition step, the recorder IDcorresponding to the different content processing apparatus in thesecond source ID list is erased and the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus itself is added to the second source IDlist.

The communication method may be configured such that it furthercomprises a notification step of outputting, when, at the detectionstep, a recorder ID corresponding to a different content processingapparatus is detected in the second source ID list and besides it isdetected that content data transferred from the different contentprocessing apparatus exists in the content reproduction apparatus, anotification for recommendation of erasure of the content datatransferred from the different content processing apparatus. After it isdetected at the detection step that the content data transferred fromthe different content processing apparatus is erased, at the recorder IDaddition step, the recorder ID corresponding to the different contentprocessing apparatus in the second source ID list is erased and therecorder ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus itself isadded to the second source ID list.

The communication method may be configured such that, when it isdetected at the detection step that the content processing apparatusitself is not registered in the management server and that the recorderID corresponding to the content processing apparatus is not registeredin the second source ID list, it further comprises a notification stepof outputting a notification for recommendation of registration into themanagement server a registration request information transmission stepof transmitting, when an input of a registration instruction of thecontent reproduction apparatus and/or the content processing apparatusinto the management server is accepted, registration request informationfor requesting for registration of the content reproduction apparatusand/or the content processing apparatus into the management server, areception step of receiving registration completion informationrepresentative of completion of registration transmitted as a responseto the registration request information from the management server, anda group ID addition step of adding, upon reception of the registrationcompletion information, the group ID registered in the first source IDlist to the second source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus.At the group ID addition step, a group certificate indicating that therecorder ID of the content processing apparatus itself belongs to thegroup ID registered in the first source ID list is issued.

In order to solve the subject described hereinabove, according to a yetfurther aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computerprogram for causing a computer to function as a content processingapparatus for recording and/or reproducing content data, a contentreproduction apparatus connectable for communication to the contentprocessing apparatus for reproducing at least content data, and amanagement server connectable for communication to the contentprocessing apparatus for managing the content processing apparatus andthe content reproduction apparatus. The computer program may cause thecontent processing apparatus to execute an acquisition process ofacquiring a second source ID list stored in the content reproductionapparatus from the content reproduction apparatus, a detection step ofdetecting based on the acquired second source ID list whether thecontent reproduction apparatus is registered in the management serverand whether a recorder ID which is applied when the content processingapparatus itself produces content data is registered in the secondsource ID list, a notification process of outputting notificationinformation for recommendation of registration into the managementserver when it is detected that the content reproduction apparatus isnot registered in the management server and that the recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus itself is notregistered in the second source ID list, a registration requestinformation transmission process of transmitting, when a registrationinstruction of the content reproduction apparatus into the managementserver is accepted, registration request information for requesting forregistration of the content reproduction apparatus to the managementserver, a reception process of receiving registration completioninformation representative of completion of the registration transmittedas a response to the registration request information from themanagement server, a group ID addition process of adding, upon receptionof the registration completion information, the group ID stored in thefirst source ID list to the second source ID list of the contentreproduction apparatus, and a recorder ID addition process of adding,when the registration instruction of the content reproduction apparatusinto the management server is not accepted (for example, when a requestis not issued within a predetermined period of time, when an instructionto reject the registration request is accepted or the like), therecorder ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus to thesecond source ID list of the content reproduction apparatus (localregistration). The computer program may cause the management server toregister the content reproduction apparatus into a registration recordin a unit of a user in response to the registration request informationand transmit registration completion information representative ofcompletion of the registration to the content processing apparatus.

In order to solve the subject described hereinabove, according to a yetfurther aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computerprogram for causing a computer to function as a content processingapparatus for recording and/or reproducing content data, the contentprocessing apparatus being connectable for communication to a contentreproduction apparatus which reproduces at least content data andconnectable for communication to a management server which at leastmanages the content reproduction apparatus. The computer program maycause the content processing apparatus to execute an acquisition processof acquiring a second source ID list stored in the content reproductionapparatus from the content reproduction apparatus, a detection processof detecting based on the acquired second source ID list whether thecontent reproduction apparatus is registered in the management serverand whether a recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus itself is registered in the second source ID list, and arecorder ID addition process of adding, when it is detected that thecontent reproduction apparatus is not registered in the managementserver and that the recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus itself is not registered in the second source ID list andbesides a registration instruction of the content reproduction apparatusinto the management server is not inputted, the recorder IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus itself to the secondsource ID list of the content reproduction apparatus (localregistration).

As described above, according to the present invention, if an apparatussuch as a content reproduction apparatus or a content processingapparatus is registered in advance, then registration or cancellation ofa plurality of apparatus owned by a user can be executed efficiently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view illustrating an outline of groupregistration of a content sharing system according to a first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing principal components of the contentsharing system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing a general configurationof the content sharing system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a hardwareconfiguration of a content processing apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing functions of the contentprocessing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6A is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration ofa content of a group management type and a content of a check-incheck-out type according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6B is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration ofa content of the group management type and a content of the check-incheck-out type according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing functions of a contentreproduction section according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of alist management section according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing an example of a hardwareconfiguration of a content reproduction apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram schematically showing functions of thecontent reproduction apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing functions of a serveraccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view illustrating a data structure of a groupregistration database according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a timing chart illustrating a basic flow of a content sharingmethod according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a timing chart illustrating a group registration process of acontent processing apparatus (PC) according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a timing chart illustrating a group registration cancellationprocess of the content processing apparatus (PC) according to theembodiment.

FIG. 16 is a timing chart illustrating a group registration process of acontent reproduction apparatus (PD) according to the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a timing chart illustrating a group registration cancellationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) according to theembodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a content reproduction controlprocess of the group management type of the content processing apparatus(PC) according to the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating a source ID list updating processof the content processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20A is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of localregistration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20B is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of localregistration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20C is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of localregistration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 21A is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of asource ID list in local registration or service registration accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 21B is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of thesource ID list in local registration or service registration accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 21C is an explanatory view showing a general configuration of thesource ID list in local registration or service registration accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of a groupregistration section of the content processing apparatus according tothe embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flow chart illustrating an outline of a registrationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus or the content processingapparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flow chart illustrating an outline of the registrationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus or the content processingapparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flow chart illustrating an outline of the registrationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus or the content processingapparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view showing an outline of a warning screenaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory view showing an outline of the warning screenaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory view showing an outline of an input screenupon a service registration process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of a groupmanagement section provided in the content processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a sequence diagram illustrating an outline of serviceregistration of the content reproduction apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 31 is a sequence diagram illustrating an outline of serviceregistration of the content processing apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thecontent processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 33 is a flow chart illustrating a process of displaying a titlelist of contents in the content processing apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 34 is a flow chart illustrating a deletion process of areproduction-inhibited content in the content processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 35 is a flow chart illustrating another process of displaying atitle list of contents in the content reproduction apparatus accordingto the embodiment.

FIG. 36 is a flow chart illustrating another deletion process of areproduction-inhibited content in the content reproduction apparatusaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 37 is a flow chart illustrating a process of reproducing a contentin the content reproduction apparatus from the content processingapparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 38 is a flow chart illustrating a process of displaying a titlelist of contents in the content reproduction apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 39 is a screen layout showing a display example of a title list ofcontents in the content reproduction apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 40 is a screen layout showing another display example of a titlelist of contents in the content reproduction apparatus according to theembodiment.

FIG. 41 is a screen layout showing another display example of the titlelist according to the embodiment.

FIG. 42 is a screen layout showing a further display example of thetitle list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 43 is a screen layout showing a still further display example ofthe title list according to the embodiment.

FIG. 44 is a screen layout showing a display example in a case whereinthe deletion process of a reproduction-inhibited content is performedaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 45 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of thecontent processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 46 is a flow chart illustrating a content transfer process from thecontent reproduction apparatus to the content processing apparatusaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 47 is a flow chart illustrating a transfer mode decision process ofthe content reproduction apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 48 is a flow chart illustrating a content transfer process from thecontent reproduction apparatus to the content processing apparatus inthe group management type according to the embodiment.

FIG. 49 is a flow chart illustrating a check-in process from the contentreproduction apparatus to the content processing apparatus in thecheck-in check-out apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 50 is a flow chart illustrating a content transfer process from thecontent processing apparatus to the content reproduction apparatusaccording to the embodiment.

FIG. 51 is a flow chart illustrating a content transfer process from thecontent processing apparatus to the content reproduction apparatus inthe group management method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 52 is a flow chart illustrating a check-out process from thecontent processing apparatus to the content reproduction apparatus in acheck-in check-out method according to the embodiment.

FIG. 53 is a screen layout of a screen displayed in order to cause auser to perform transfer of a content according to the embodiment.

FIG. 54 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a contentreproduction control process of the content reproduction apparatus (PD)according to the embodiment.

FIG. 55 is a flow chart illustrating another example of the contentreproduction control process of the content reproduction apparatus (PD)according to the embodiment.

FIG. 56A is an explanatory view showing an example of a title list to bedisplayed on a display apparatus of the content reproduction apparatus(PD) according to the embodiment.

FIG. 56B is an explanatory view showing another example of the titlelist to be displayed on the display apparatus of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) according to the embodiment.

FIG. 56C is an explanatory view showing a further example of the titlelist to be displayed on the display apparatus of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) according to the embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It isto be noted that those components which have substantially samefunctional configurations are denoted by like reference characters andoverlapping description of them is omitted herein.

First Embodiment

In the following, a content sharing system according to a firstembodiment of the present invention and components of the contentsharing system are described.

<1. Outline of Copyright Management of the Group Management Type>

First, an outline of a content sharing system ready for copyrightmanagement of the group management type according to the presentinvention is described.

The content sharing system according to the present embodiment isconfigured as a copyright management system for managing contentsbetween a plurality of apparatus (content processing apparatus, contentreproduction apparatus and so forth) to protect the copyright of thecontents. In particular, the content sharing system restricts sharing ofcontents between apparatus owned by different users in order to preventsuch illegal utilization of the contents as an act of mass distributionand so forth of contents through the Internet or the like.

On the other hand, the content sharing system is configured also as asystem which implements a content sharing service by which contents canbe shared freely to some degree between a plurality of apparatus ownedby a same user (including not only a sole user but also a user groupwithin a limited range such as members of a family, friends, colleaguesand so forth: this similarly applies to the following expression).

In this manner, the content sharing system according to the presentembodiment adopts a copyright management method (a copyright managementscheme of “Group Management Type” hereinafter described) wherein, whilecopyright management is performed, sharing of contents is acknowledgedwithin a range of private utilization such that the convenience and thedegree of freedom in content sharing between a plurality of apparatusowned by a same user can be enhanced.

As described hereinabove, in the conventional copyright managementsystem ready only for the “check-in check-out method” complying with theSDMI, illegal utilization of contents is restricted by restricting thecopy number (number of times of check-in and check-out) of a content ina “unit of a content” based on a license which is right informationwhich prescribes utilization authority of the content. In such a systemas just described, since a copyright management process must beperformed every time a content is copied (check-in check-out) between aplurality of content processing apparatus, the content sharing systemhas a drawback in that the system configuration is complicated and theprocessing speed is low and besides the degree of freedom in contentutilization within a range of private utilization is low, resulting inlack of the convenience. Further, in such a conventional copyrightmanagement system of the check-in check-out type as described above, theuser must always be conscious of the copy source or the number of timesof copying of a content when it utilizes the system. Further,“prevention of copying of a content to an apparatus owned by anotherperson” which is the original object of the copyright management systemis not implemented.

In contrast, the content sharing system according to the presentembodiment is characterized in that it can execute copyright managementnot only of the conventional check-in check-out type but also of thegroup management type. In the copyright management system of the groupmanagement type, such copyright management that the management unit incontent utilization is a “content providing source (source)” unit(particularly, a “unit of a user by whom a content is owned first” or a“unit of an apparatus by which a content is produced”) and reproductionof a content by each apparatus is permitted/inhibited in response to aproviding source of the content.

More particularly, in the copyright management system of the groupmanagement type, a plurality of apparatus owned by each user aregroup-registered in a unit of a user into a group management server, andeach of the apparatus registered as a group controls reproduction of acontent based on a source ID representative of a providing source of thecontent and a source ID list. By the control, a content of the sameproviding source can be copied and reproduced between and by theapparatus registered in the apparatus group of the same user.

It is to be noted that the content may be an arbitrary content such as asound (Audio) content of music, a lecture, or a radio program, an image(Video) content formed from a still picture or pictures or movingpictures which form a movie, a television program, a video program, aphotograph, a painting, a chart or the like, an electronic book(E-book), a game or software. In the following description, a musiccontent, particularly a music content distributed from a distributionserver or ripped from a music CD, is described as an example of acontent. However, the present invention is not limited to such anexample as just mentioned.

Now, an outline of group registration into the content sharing system100 according to the present embodiment for performing such copyrightmanagement of the group management type as described above is describedwith reference to FIG. 1. It is to be noted that FIG. 1 is anexplanatory view showing an outline of group registration of the contentsharing system 100 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, content processing apparatus (PC) 10-1 and 10-2 andcontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20-1 and 20-2 are grouped, forexample, into an apparatus group (content processing apparatus 10-1 andcontent reproduction apparatus 20-1) owned by a user A and anotherapparatus group (content processing apparatus 10-2 and contentreproduction apparatus 20-2) owned by another user B. Such grouping ofthe apparatus is performed by registering the content processingapparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 in a unit of auser as a group into a group management server 32.

The group registration is described particularly taking the contentprocessing apparatus 10-1 owned by the user A as an example. First, theuser A would use the content processing apparatus 10-1 owned by the userA itself to access the group management server 32 to perform a userauthentication process and transmit an apparatus ID (for example, aterminal ID) of the content processing apparatus 10-1 to the groupmanagement server 32. Then, the group management server 32 stores theapparatus ID of the content processing apparatus 10-1 in a coordinatedrelationship with the user A and group-registers the apparatus ID of thecontent processing apparatus 10-1. Further, the group management server32 transmits user identification information (for example, a leaf IDhereinafter described) representative of the user A to the contentprocessing apparatus 10-1, and the content processing apparatus 10-1stores the received user identification into a storage section of thecontent processing apparatus 10-1 itself. Similarly, also the othercontent processing apparatus 10 is group-registered. Although the groupregistration of each of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 isperformed through a content processing apparatus (PC) 10, details arehereinafter described.

In such group registration, one apparatus (content processing apparatus10 and content reproduction apparatus 20) can be registered only into anapparatus group of a single user but cannot be registered into apparatusgroups of different users at a time. Accordingly, if the owner of thecontent processing apparatus 10-2 is changed from the user A to the userB, it is necessary to change the group registration of the contentprocessing apparatus 10-2, that is, to perform registration cancellationfrom the apparatus group of the user A and re-registration into theapparatus group of the user B.

Further, for example, if the user A newly purchases a content processingapparatus 10-3, since the content processing apparatus 10-3 is in astate wherein it does not belong to any group, the content processingapparatus 10-3 can be group-registered into the apparatus group of theuser A. On the other hand, also it is possible to cancel the groupregistration of the content processing apparatus 10-1 registered alreadyin the apparatus group of the user A so that it does not belong to anygroup.

In this manner, in the content sharing system 100, individual apparatusare group-registered in a unit of a user who owns the apparatus into thegroup management server 32. As a result, between apparatus registered inan apparatus group of the same user, a content can be shared freely. Onthe other hand, a content cannot be shared between apparatus which areregistered in apparatus groups of different users.

Here, an outline of a management technique of such content sharing asdescribed above is described with reference to FIG. 2. It is to be notedthat FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing principal components of thecontent sharing system 100 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the content sharing system 100 according to thepresent embodiment includes a source ID addition section 1, a contentreproduction section 2 and a list management section 3 as principalcomponents thereof.

The source ID addition section 1 is provided, for example, in a contentprocessing apparatus 10 or the like and has a function of applying, to acontent, a source ID representative of a providing source of thecontent. It is to be noted that “to apply a source ID to a content”signifies to coordinate a source ID with a content, and this includes,for example, a process of adding data of a source ID into a file(content file) which includes content data, another process ofcoordinating the content file and a file including the data of thesource ID with each other, and so forth.

Further, the “providing source of a content” signifies the source on thepersonal user level of a content shared in the content sharing system100. In particular, the providing source of a content is, for example,(1) a user who utilizes a content distribution service to acquire(purchase or the like) the content, (2) a content processing apparatus10 which produces the content by ripping, self recording or the like.The source ID mentioned hereinabove is an identifier applied uniquely toeach of such content providing sources. A providing source of a contentwhich is distributed in the system can be specified by applying thesource ID to the content.

In the present embodiment, for example, a recorder ID and a group ID areused each as a source ID. The recorder ID is a source ID used where acontent processing apparatus 10 is a providing source of a content, andthe group ID is a source ID used where a user is a providing source of acontent.

The recorder ID is an identifier applied uniquely in a unit of a contentprocessing apparatus 10 (PC or the like) which has a content rippingfunction. The recorder ID is produced by a content processing apparatus10 having a ripping function mentioned hereinabove based on an apparatusID or the like of the content processing apparatus 10 and is retainedsafely in the content processing apparatus 10. When a content is rippedfrom a removable recording medium such as a music CD, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 applies the recorder ID of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 itself to the ripped content (hereinafterreferred to as “ripped content”). Accordingly, a content processingapparatus 10 of a producing source of a ripped content (accordingly, aproviding source of the content) can be specified from such a recorderID as just described.

Meanwhile, the group ID is an identifier applied uniquely in a unit of auser who owns a content processing apparatus 10 and/or a contentreproduction apparatus 20. In particular, the group ID is applied in aunit of a user account of a content sharing service provided by thecontent sharing system 100 according to the present embodiment. Anapparatus group to which a content processing apparatus 10 or a contentreproduction apparatus 20 and an owner of the apparatus belong can beidentified from such a group ID as just described.

In the present embodiment, the group ID is produced based on a leaf ID,for example, upon group registration of a content processing apparatus10 or upon reception of a distribution content by the content processingapparatus 10. The leaf ID is an identifier applied in a unit of a userand is produced, for example, upon user registration into the groupmanagement server 32 by the group management server 32. Such a leaf IDas just described is formed as an example of user identificationinformation and is conveyed from the group management server 32 to thecontent processing apparatus 10 upon group registration of or uponcontent distribution to each apparatus.

The content processing apparatus 10 produces a group ID based on a leafID and a service ID received from the group management server 32. Theservice ID is an ID unique in a unit of a content distribution serviceor a ripping content sharing service implemented by the content sharingsystem 100. Here, the content distribution service is a service ofdistributing a content from the content distribution server to a contentprocessing apparatus 10. Meanwhile, the ripping content sharing serviceis a service of performing the group registration described hereinaboveto make it possible to share a ripped content between a plurality ofcontent processing apparatus 10 and content reproduction apparatus 20owned by the same user.

For example, where the content distribution service and the rippedcontent sharing service are not managed separately from each other but acommon service ID is used for both services, the service ID and the leafID are joined together in the following manner to produce one group ID.“Group ID”=“service ID”+“leaf ID”

On the other hand, where the content distribution service and the rippedcontent sharing service are managed separately from each other, acontent distribution service ID unique in a unit of a ripped contentsharing service and a ripped content sharing service ID unique in a unitof a ripped content sharing service are produced. Therefore, the serviceID and the leaf ID of the services are joined together in the followingmanner to produce two group IDs corresponding to the two services.“First group ID”=“content distribution service ID”+“leaf ID”“Second group ID”=“ripped content sharing service ID”+“leaf ID”

The first group ID of the two IDs is applied to a distribution content,which is distributed from the content distribution server, in order toidentify a user who purchases the distribution content. Meanwhile, thesecond group ID is used as a reference with which, when a recorder ID isto be added to a source ID list hereinafter described in order for acontent processing apparatus 10 and a content reproduction apparatus 20to share a ripped content therebetween, it is decided whether or notsuch addition should be permitted.

In the present embodiment, for example, the latter technique wherein afirst group ID and a second group ID are produced is adopted. However,in the following description, the first group ID and the second group IDare not distinguished from each other but are both represented as groupID for the convenience of description.

Such a group ID as just mentioned is applied to a distribution contentdistributed from the content distribution server, for example, by thecontent processing apparatus 10. By applying a group ID to adistribution content in this manner, a user of a purchasing source ofthe distribution content (that is, a providing source of the content)can be identified.

As described above, a content to which a source ID (recorder ID, groupID) is applied by the source ID addition section 1 of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can be copied freely between the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20. Inother words, in the copyright management system of the group managementtype, upon copying of a content to which a source ID is applied (thatis, a content of an object of copyright management), such a restrictionprocess for the number of times of copying as is performed in theconventional copyright management system of the check-in check-out typeis not performed at all.

The content reproduction section 2 is formed from a reproduction machineor reproduction software for a content or the like and provided in acontent processing apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20.The content reproduction section 2 has a source ID list L to which asource ID with regard to which reproduction is permitted by the contentreproduction section is added. The source ID list L is provided for eachcontent reproduction section 2, and in different content reproductionsections 2, the source IDs included in the source ID lists L of thecontent reproduction sections 2 are different from each other.

When a content to which the source ID described above is applied is tobe reproduced, the content reproduction section 2 checks the source IDlist L to enable/disable reproduction of the content. In particular, ifthe source ID applied to the content is included in the source ID listL, then the content can be reproduced, but if the source ID applied tothe content is not included in the source ID list L, then the contentcannot be reproduced. In this manner, the content reproduction section 2controls reproduction of a content in a unit of a source ID, that is, ina unit of a content providing source.

Further, the content reproduction section 2 can issue a request foraddition of a new source ID to the source ID list L included in thecontent reproduction section 2 thereof, for example, to the listmanagement section 3. In particular, in order to reproduce a content towhich a new source ID which is not included in the source ID list L heldby the content reproduction section 2 itself is added, it is necessaryfor the content reproduction section 2 to add the new source ID to thesource ID list L. The content reproduction section 2 issues a requestfor permission of addition of a new source ID to the list managementsection 3 which permits updating of the source ID list L.

The list management section 3 is provided, for example, in each contentprocessing apparatus 10 and updates the source ID list L held in thecontent reproduction section 2. Here, the updating of the source ID listL is addition or deletion of a source ID to or from the source ID listL. The list management section 3 can add/delete a source ID to/from thesource ID list L to enable/disable reproduction of a content to whichthe source ID is applied by the content reproduction section 2.

Such a list management section 3 as described above acquires a groupcertificate G which is sharing information by which a group ID and arecorder ID are coordinated with each other and updates the source IDlist L based on such a group certificate G as just described. Moreparticularly, where a group ID included in the group certificate G issame as a group ID included in the source ID list L, the list managementsection 3 adds a recorder ID included in the group certificate G to thesource ID list L. Consequently, a recorder ID of a content processingapparatus 10 registered in an apparatus group of the same user can beadded to the source ID list L to make it possible to reproduce a rippedcontent ripped by such a content processing apparatus 10 as justdescribed.

As described above, in the content sharing system 100 according to thepresent embodiment, reproduction of a content by each of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 iscontrolled by the source ID addition section 1, content reproductionsection 2 and list management section 3 to manage the copyright of acontent copied between the content processing apparatus 10. It is to benoted that, although the content sharing system 100 is configured suchthat it can execute not only copyright management of such a groupmanagement type as described above but also copyright management of theconventional check-in check-out type, details are hereinafter described.

<2. System Configuration>

Now, a general configuration of the content sharing system 100 accordingto the present embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 3. It isto be noted that FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing ageneral configuration of the content sharing system 100 according to thepresent embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the content sharing system 100 according to thepresent embodiment includes a plurality of content processing apparatus10-1, 10-2, . . . , 10-n (in the following description, any of them maybe generally referred to as “content processing apparatus 10”), aplurality of content reproduction apparatus 20-1, 20-2, . . . , 20-m,20-n (in the following description, any of them may be generallyreferred to as “content reproduction apparatus 20”), a server 30, anetwork 5 and a local line 9 which interconnect the apparatus mentioned,and a storage medium 7. The server 30 includes, for example, a WWW(World Wide Web) server 31, a group management server 32, a contentdistribution server 34, a certificate management server 36, a chargingserver 38 and so forth.

Each content processing apparatus 10 is an apparatus which can recordand reproduce a content. More particularly, the content processingapparatus 10 is formed from a computer apparatus (which may be of thenotebook type or of the desk top type) such as a personal computer (PC).However, the content processing apparatus 10 is not limited to any ofsuch examples as just mentioned but may be any apparatus such as a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), a game machine for home use, or aninformation appliance only if the apparatus has a communication functionthrough the network 5.

The content processing apparatus 10 can connect for communication to theserver 30, for example, through the network 5. The content processingapparatus 10 can install, for example, software for a contentdistribution service and software for a ripped content sharing service.Consequently, the content processing apparatus 10 can receive a contentdistributed from the content distribution server 34 and record thedistribution content on a recording medium such as a storage apparatusor a storage medium 7.

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 can produce a contentnewly, for example, by self recording (self sound recording, imagerecording or the like), or ripping and record the content on the storageapparatus or the storage medium 7. It is to be noted that the selfrecording signifies to record images/sound and so forth pickedup/collected by an image pickup apparatus/sound collection apparatusprovided in the content processing apparatus 10 itself as video/audiodigital data. Meanwhile, the ripping signifies to extract content data(sound data, image data or the like) of the digital type recorded on arecording medium such as a music CD, a video DVD, and a software CD-ROM,convert the content data into data of a file format which can beprocessed by a computer and record the data on the storage apparatus orthe storage medium 7.

Each content processing apparatus 10 can compression-code thedistribution content and the ripped content described above inaccordance with a predetermined compression coding method such as theATRAC3 (registered trademark of Sony Corporation) (Advanced TransformAcoustic Coding 3) method or the MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer-3) method,encrypt the content using an encryption method such as the DES (DataEncryption Standard) and record the encrypted content.

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits and receives thedistribution content or the ripped content to and from another contentprocessing apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20 throughthe network 5 or the local line 9 or can transfer the distributioncontent or ripped content through the storage medium 7. Consequently, acontent can be shared between a plurality of content processingapparatus 10 and a plurality of content reproduction apparatus 20through provision/acquisition of the content.

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 is group-registered intothe group management server 32 connected thereto through the network 5.Further, the content processing apparatus 10 includes components whichcorrespond, for example, to such source ID addition section 1, contentreproduction section 2 and list management section 3 as describedhereinabove. In this manner, the content processing apparatus 10 isconfigured so as to be ready for a copyright management system of thegroup management type described hereinabove. Furthermore, while thecontent processing apparatus 10 is configured so as to be ready, forexample, also for a copyright management system of the conventionalcheck-in check-out type, details are hereinafter described.

The content reproduction apparatus 20 is a portable device (PD) which isa portable content reproduction apparatus. More particularly, thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is formed from a portable audio playeror the like which includes a hard disk drive (HDD) having a storagecapacity of, for example, several tens GB. However, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is not limited to such an example as justdescribed, but may be any of various portable apparatus such as aportable video/audio player, a PDA, a portable telephone set or a PHS.Further, the storage medium in the content reproduction apparatus 20 orthe external storage medium 7 which can be loaded into the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is not limited to a HDD but may be any storagemedium which allows random accessing such as an optical disk, amagneto-optical disk, a flash memory, a FeRAM or a magnetic memory. Itis to be noted that the content reproduction apparatus 20 may be acontent reproduction machine for exclusive use.

The content reproduction apparatus 20 can be locally connected to thecontent processing apparatus 10, for example, through the local line 9and can communicate various kinds of data with the content processingapparatus 10. The local line 9 is formed from a wire cable such as suchas a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or a SCSI (Small Computer SystemInterface) cable. It is to be noted that the content processingapparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 may be configuredfor data communication with each other by ratio communication.

Any of such content reproduction apparatus 20 as described above canreproduce a content transferred from a content processing apparatus 10through the local line 9 or a content provided by the storage medium 7.

Further, the content reproduction apparatus 20 is group-registered intothe group management server 32 through the content processing apparatus10. Further, the content reproduction apparatus 20 includes aconfiguration corresponding, for example, to the content reproductionsection 2 described hereinabove. In this manner, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is configured so as to be ready for thecopyright management method of the group management type describedhereinabove. Further, the content reproduction apparatus 20 is readyalso for the copyright management method of the check-in check-out type,and the group management type and the check-in check-out type can bechanged over therebetween in response to setting by the contentreproduction apparatus 20. However, details are hereinafter described.

The server 30 is formed from a computer apparatus which includes aserver function or the like. The server 30 includes, for example, a WWWserver 31, a group management server 32, a content distribution server34, a certificate management server 36 and a charging server 38.

The WWW server 31 establishes communication with a content processingapparatus 10 which has connected thereto through a network to perform auser registration process, a user authentication process and so forth.When user authentication is completed, the WWW server 31 causes thecontent processing apparatus 10 to connect to the group managementserver 32 or the content distribution server 34.

The group management server 32 group-registers the content processingapparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 in a unit of auser in response to a registration request from a content processingapparatus 10 owned by a user-registered user described hereinabove.

The content distribution server 34 is a server which provides a contentdistribution service and distributes, in response to a distributionrequest from a content processing apparatus 10 owned by the user, acontent to the content processing apparatus 10 through the network 5.The content distribution server 34 is, for example, an EMD server whichprovides an electronic music distribution (EMD) service or the like. Thecontent distribution server 34 compression-codes a music content of anobject of distribution in accordance with a compression coding methodsuch as the ATRAC3 method or the MP3 method, encrypts the coded musiccontent in accordance with an encryption method such as the DES anddistributes the encrypted music content to the content processingapparatus 10. Further, the content distribution server 34 encrypts acontent key for decrypting the distribution content to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 together with the encrypted distributioncontent.

The certificate management server 36 acquires and manages a groupcertificate G issued by each content processing apparatus 10 anddistributes the group certificate G to the content processing apparatus10 which belong to the same apparatus group. Consequently, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can add a recorder ID of any other contentprocessing apparatus 10 belonging to the same apparatus group and sharethe ripped content.

The charging server 38 performs a charging process for a user whopurchases a content in response to distribution of the content by thecontent distribution server 34 described hereinabove.

The WWW server 31, group management server 32, content distributionserver 34, certificate management server 36 and charging server 38 mayentirely or partly be formed integrally as hardware or may be formedfrom individually different server apparatus.

The network 5 is a communication line network which interconnects thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the server 30 for bidirectionalcommunication. The network 5 is formed from a public network such as theInternet, a telephone network or a satellite communication network or adedicated network such as a WAN, a LAN or an IP-VPN and may be any of awire network and a radio network.

Further, such a network 5 as described above includes a private network.The private network is a network which interconnects a plurality ofcontent processing apparatus 10 among which a content is shared within aprivate use as viewed from a point of view of copyright management. Aparticular example of such a private network as just mentioned may be,for example, a network which interconnects a plurality of contentprocessing apparatus 10 used by the same user, a home network used inthe same home, a LAN which interconnects a plurality of contentprocessing apparatus 10 used within a limited group (company, friends orthe like) of a small scale, or the like.

The storage medium 7 is a removable medium which can store various kindsof data such as contents, group certificates G and programs and may beany of various optical disks such as a DVD-R, a DVD-WR, DVD-RAM, a CD-R,a CD-RW, and a magneto-optical disk, magnetic disks such as a flexibledisk and a hard disk, and various semiconductor memories. It is to benoted that the storage medium 7 may be a recording medium with acopyright management function which, for example, uses a cryptographickey or the like to limit copying, reproduction and so forth of acontent.

The storage medium 7 functions as a content providing/acquiring mediumbetween the content processing apparatus 10. For example, if the storagemedium 7 in which a content is written by the content processingapparatus 10-1 is loaded into the content processing apparatus 10-2 sothat the content may be read out, then the content can be provided fromthe content processing apparatus 10-1 to the content processingapparatus 10-2. Further, the content processing apparatus 10-1 canprovide/acquire a content to and from a content reproduction apparatus20, which cannot be connected to the network 5, through the storagemedium 7. Further, the storage medium 7 functions also as aproviding/acquiring medium of a group certificate G between the contentprocessing apparatus 10. Furthermore, the storage medium 7 can beinserted into a content selling terminal (not shown) provided at a salessituation or the like and store and provide a content purchased inresponse to a user operation to a content processing apparatus 10.

<3. Content Providing Apparatus (PC)>

Now, a configuration of a content processing apparatus (PC) 10 accordingto the present embodiment is described in detail.

First, a hardware configuration of a content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment is described with reference to FIG.4. It is to be noted that FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematicallyshowing an example of a hardware configuration of the content processingapparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the content processing apparatus 10 includes a CPU(Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM(Random Access Memory) 103, a host bus 104, a bridge 105, an externalbus 106, an interface 107, an inputting apparatus 108, an outputtingapparatus 110, a storage apparatus (HDD) 111, a drive 112, a connectionport 114, and a communication apparatus 115.

The CPU 101 functions as an arithmetic operation processing apparatusand a control apparatus and operates in accordance with the programs tocontrol the components in the content processing apparatus 10. The ROM102 stores programs, arithmetic operation parameters and so forth to beused by the CPU 101. The RAM 103 temporarily stores a program to be usedfor execution by the CPU 101, parameters which vary suitably during theexecution and so forth. The CPU 101, ROM 102 and RAM 103 are connectedto each other by the host bus 104 formed from a CPU bus or the like.

The host bus 104 is connected to the external bus 106 such as a PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect/Interface) bus or the like throughthe bridge 105.

The inputting apparatus 108 is formed from inputting elements such as amouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, buttons, switches and levers, an inputcontrol circuit for producing and outputting an input signal to the CPU101, and so forth. The user of the content processing apparatus 10 canoperate the inputting apparatus 108 to input various data to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and issue an instruction of a processingoperation to the content processing apparatus 10.

The outputting apparatus 110 is formed from a display apparatus such asa CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display apparatus, a liquid crystal display(LCD) apparatus, lamps or the like and a sound outputting apparatus suchas a speaker. The outputting apparatus 110 outputs, for example, areproduced content. In particular, the display apparatus displaysvarious kinds of information such as produced video data in the form ofa text or an image. Meanwhile, the sound outputting apparatus emitssound of reproduced sound data or the like.

The storage apparatus 111 is an apparatus for data storage formed as anexample of a storage section of the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment and is formed from, for example, aHDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like. The storage apparatus 111 drives thehard disk to store programs to be executed by the CPU 101 and variousdata. Further, a source ID list L, a content database 116, a self IDdatabase 117, a content management information database 118 and so forthhereinafter described with reference to FIG. 5 are stored in the storageapparatus 111.

The drive 112 is a reader/writer for a storage medium and is built in orexternally provided for the content processing apparatus 10. The drive112 records/reproduces various data of contents, group certificates Gand programs on/from the storage medium 7 such as a magnetic disk, anoptical disk, a magneto-optical disk or a semiconductor memory loaded inthe content processing apparatus 10.

In particular, the drive 112 reads out data recorded on the removablestorage medium 7 and supplies the data to the RAM 103 through theinterface 107, external bus 106, bridge 105 and host bus 104. The CPU101 stores the data into the ROM 102, the storage apparatus 111 or thelike as occasion demands. Meanwhile, the drive 112 receives data storedin the ROM 102, the storage apparatus 111 or the like, data newlyproduced or data acquired from an external apparatus from the CPU 101and writes the data on the removable storage medium 7.

The connection port 114 is a port for connecting an external peripheralapparatus such as a content reproduction apparatus 20 and has connectionterminals such as USB terminals and IEEE1394 terminals. The connectionport 114 is connected to the CPU 101 and so forth through the interface107, external bus 106, bridge 105, host bus 104 and so forth. By such aconnection port 114 as just described, the content processing apparatus10 can communicate various data through the content reproductionapparatus 20 and the local line 9.

The communication apparatus 115 is a communication interface formed froma communication device or the like for connecting, for example, to thenetwork 5. The communication apparatus 115 transmits and receivesvarious data of a content, a source ID list L, a group certificate G, acontrol signal and so forth to and from an external apparatus such asanother content processing apparatus 10 or the server 30 through thenetwork 5.

Now, principal functions of the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment are described with reference to FIG.5. It is to be noted that FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematicallyshowing functions of the content processing apparatus 10 according tothe present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 5, each content processing apparatus 10 includes, forexample, a data communication section 120, a group registration section130, a list management section 140, a certificate issuance section 150,a distribution service utilization section 152, a source ID applicationsection 154, a content processing section 160, an ICV data managementsection 190, a content database 116, a self ID database 117 and acontent management information database 118.

The data communication section 120 transmits and receives various databetween the content processing apparatus 10 and an external apparatus.For example, the data communication section 120 utilizes thecommunication apparatus 115 to transmit and receive data between thecontent processing apparatus 10 and another content processing apparatus10 or the server 30 through the network 5. Further, the datacommunication section 120 utilizes the connection port 114 to transmitand receive data between the content processing apparatus 10 and acontent reproduction apparatus 20 through the local line 9.

The group registration section 130 performs a user registration processand a group registration process (apparatus registration process) of thecontent processing apparatus 10 into the group management server 32. Inthe group registration process, the group registration section 130transmits group registration request information (for example, a groupregistration request notification, the user ID, the password, theterminal ID, the recorder ID and so forth) to the group managementserver 32. Here, the terminal ID is an ID for uniquely identifying thecontent processing apparatus 10 formed from a PC or the like. Theterminal ID and the recorder ID are produced uniquely, for example,based on a random number generated originally, a device ID of eachcontent processing apparatus 10 or the like by each content processingapparatus 10.

Further, the group registration section 130 receives service data (aleaf ID, a service common key and so forth) issued from the groupmanagement server 32 in response to group registration of the contentprocessing apparatus 10. The group registration section 130 outputs, forexample, the received leaf ID to the list management section 140 andoutputs the received service common key to the content processingsection 160. The service common key (secret key) is a key necessary todecrypt encrypted content data and stored safely so that it may not befalsified.

Further, the group registration section 130 performs a groupregistration cancellation request process of the content processingapparatus 10 to the group management server 32. Also in this instance,the group registration section 130 transmits group registrationcancellation request information (for example, a group registrationcancellation request notification, the user ID, the password, theterminal ID and so forth) to the group management server 32 similarly asupon registration. If registration cancellation is performed, then thegroup registration section 130 notifies the list management section 140of this.

Furthermore, the group registration section 130 can group-register acontent reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processingapparatus 10 into the group management server 32. Details of such agroup registration process and a registration cancellation process ofthe content processing apparatus 10 and the content reproductionapparatus 20 by the group registration section 130 as described aboveare hereinafter described.

The list management section 140 is a component corresponding to the listmanagement section 3 shown in FIG. 2. The list management section 140has, for example, a function of updating the source ID list L held bythe content processing apparatus 10.

For example, upon group registration described hereinabove, the listmanagement section 140 adds the service ID to the leaf ID received fromthe group registration section 130, converts the leaf ID having theservice ID added thereto into a group ID and adds the group ID to thesource ID list L. Further, when the list management section 140 acquiresa group certificate G distributed from the group management server 32 oranother content processing apparatus 10, if the group ID included in thegroup certificate G and the group ID included in the source ID list Lcoincide with each other, then the list management section 140 adds therecorder ID included in the group certificate G to the source ID list L.It is to be noted that, where validity term information is set to thesource ID such as the group ID or the recorder ID, the list managementsection 140 describes also the validity term information of the sourceID in the source ID list L upon addition of the source ID to the sourceID list L.

Further, the list management section 140 deletes, upon groupregistration cancellation, all source IDs in the source ID list L.Furthermore, also it is possible for the list management section 140 toupdate the source ID list L of a content processing apparatus 10connected to the content processing apparatus 10. It is to be noted thatdetails of such a list updating process by the list management section140 as just mentioned are hereinafter described.

It is to be noted that the source ID list L is stored safely in thestorage apparatus 111, the ROM 102 or the like of the content processingapparatus 10. The source ID list L is stored in a state wherein, forexample, it is encrypted and has a digital signature applied thereto inorder to prevent illegal falsification thereof by a user.

In the present embodiment, a group ID produced based on a leaf ID upongroup registration is stored in the content processing apparatus 10 insuch a manner that it is included in the source ID list L as describedabove. This is because the group ID is utilized as a source ID formaking it possible to reproduce a distribution contents to which thegroup ID is applied to perform reproduction control of the distributioncontent based on the group ID. It is to be noted that, for example,where a group ID is utilized not as a source ID but only as a source ID(second group ID described hereinabove) for reference to addition of arecorder ID to the source ID list L in a ripped content sharing service,the group ID need not necessarily be stored in the source ID list L. Inthis instance, the group ID may be stored, for example, in anotherstorage region of the storage apparatus 111, for example, in the self IDdatabase 117 or may be stored in some other portion such as the ROM 102.

The certificate issuance section 150 has, for example, a function ofissuing a group certificate G for certifying an apparatus group to whichthe content processing apparatus 10 itself belongs. More particularly,the certificate issuance section 150 issues a group certificate G whichcoordinates, for example, in a state wherein the content processingapparatus 10 is group-registered and has a group IDA as described above,a recorder ID 1 corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10 andthe group IDA with each other. It can be certified by the groupcertificate G that the content processing apparatus 10 corresponding tothe recorder ID 1 belongs to an apparatus group which is owned by theuser and specified by the group IDA. Further, a digital signature fordetection of falsification, for example, a MAC (Message AuthenticationCode), is applied to the group certificate G. Falsification of the groupcertificate G can be prevented by this.

When such a group certificate G as described above is to be issued, thecertificate issuance section 150 reads out the recorder ID and the groupID corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10 itself from thestorage apparatus 111 and encrypts the read out recorder ID and group IDwith the digital signature applied thereto to produce and issue a groupcertificate G.

The certificate issuance section 150 can issue a group ID, for example,at an arbitrary timing after group registration of the contentprocessing apparatus 10. For example, the certificate issuance section150 may issue a group certificate G corresponding to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 itself in response to an input by the userthrough the content processing apparatus 10 or a certification requestfrom another content processing apparatus 10. Further, the certificateissuance section 150 may issue and transmit a group certificate G to thecertificate management server 36 after group registration of the contentprocessing apparatus 10.

Further, the certificate issuance section 150 may apply validity terminformation to the group certificate G to be issued. By this, anycontent processing apparatus 10 which acquires the group certificate Gcan add the recorder ID included in the group certificate G to thesource ID list L only within the term of validity represented byvalidity term information included in the group certificate G.

Further, while the certificate issuance section 150 can arbitrarily seta route to be used when a group certificate G issued in such a manner asdescribed above is to be distributed to another content processingapparatus 10, the group certificate G may be distributed to anothercontent processing apparatus 10, for example, through the certificatemanagement server 36. By this, the certificate management server 36 canmanage group certificates G of the content processing apparatus 10 in acentralized manner and distribute any group certificate G to anothercontent processing apparatus 10 which belongs to the same apparatusgroup.

Also the distribution method of the group certificate G can be setarbitrarily. For example, the group certificate G may be transmitteddirectly through the network 5 or the local line 9 or may be attached toand transmitted together with an electronic mail or otherwise may beadhered to a homepage. Or else, the group certificate G may be providedto the content processing apparatus 10 through the storage medium 7 onwhich the group certificate G is recorded. Furthermore, the groupcertificate G may be distributed through the storage medium 7 on whichthe group certificate G is recorded together with the content. By this,for example, together with a ripped content, a recorder ID applied tothe ripped content and a group ID of a content processing apparatus 10by which the ripped content is ripped can be distributed at a time.Therefore, any content processing apparatus 10 can immediately reproducethe ripped content if the content processing apparatus 10 belongs to thesame apparatus group.

The group certificate G distributed in this manner is utilized forsharing registration, that is, for addition of a recorder ID to thesource ID list L by the other content processing apparatus 10.Consequently, the other content processing apparatus 10 which receivesthe distribution of the group certificate G from the content processingapparatus 10 which belongs to the same apparatus group can acquire therecorder ID of the apparatus which owns the same group ID and add therecorder ID to the source ID list L.

By issuing and distributing a group certificate G in which a group IDand a recorder ID are coordinated with each other in this manner, thosecontent processing apparatus 10 which belong to the same apparatus groupcan share the recorder IDs of each other even if they are not connecteddirectly to each other.

It is to be noted that a certificate management section (not shown)wherein a group certificate G issued by the certificate issuance section150 or a group certificate G acquired from another content processingapparatus 10 or the certificate management server 36 is stored andmanaged may be provided. By this, the certificate management section canread out the group certificates G acquired in the past from such acertificate database as just mentioned and distribute the groupcertificates G to another content processing apparatus 10 and so forth.

The distribution service utilization section 152 performs a processrelating to a content distribution service to or from the contentdistribution server 34.

In particular, the distribution service utilization section 152transmits and receives various kinds of information such as userauthentication information (a user ID, a password and so forth)necessary to utilize the content distribution service describedhereinabove, charging information and content distribution requestinformation to and from the content distribution server 34 or supportsinputting/outputting of such information.

Further, the distribution service utilization section 152 receives adistribution content and a license of the distribution contenttransmitted from the content distribution server 34 through the network5 and the communication apparatus 115. In particular, if the user of thecontent processing apparatus 10 utilizes the content distributionservice to acquire a content, then the distribution service utilizationsection 152 downloads a file of the distribution content and anotherfile of the license which prescribes utilization conditions of thedistribution content, for example, as different files from each otherfrom the content distribution server 34. In the case of a content forwhich copyright management of the group management type is performed, aleaf ID allocated to the user by the group registration described aboveis described in the license of the distribution content. On the otherhand, in the case of another content for which copyright management ofthe check-in check-out type is performed, information of check-incheck-out time number restriction, reproduction time number restriction,reproduction term and so forth which are utilization conditioninformation (Usage Rule) of the content is described in the license.

The distribution service utilization section 152 works data of thedistribution content and data of the license received in this manner toproduce, for example, a content file which includes the content and thelicense as a same file.

At this time, as regards a distribution content of the group managementtype, a group ID is applied to the content data of the distributioncontent by the source ID application section 154. The source IDapplication section 154 is a component which corresponds to the sourceID addition section 1 described hereinabove. The source ID applicationsection 154 applies a group ID to the distribution content.Particularly, the source ID application section 154 executes a processof converting the leaf ID described in the license corresponding to thedistribution content into a group ID. The conversion process of a leafID into a group ID is performed by adding, for example, a service ID ofthe content distribution service to the leaf ID similarly as describedhereinabove. By this, a group ID representative of the user and theservice by and through which the distribution content is purchased iscoordinated with the distribution content.

In this manner, the distribution service utilization section 152 and thesource ID application section 154 produce a content file in which a fileof a distributed content and a file of a license are joined together.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 6A, a content file F1 of the groupmanagement type includes, for example, a content ID, content dataencrypted with a content key, a content key encrypted with a systemcommon key which can be handled only by the content sharing system 100and a license in which a source ID such as a group ID is described.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6B, a content file F2 of the check-incheck-out type includes, for example, a content ID, content dataencrypted with a content key, a content key encrypted with the systemcommon key and a license in which utilization condition information isdescribed.

A license in such content files F1 and F2 as described above is in anencrypted form so that falsification thereof can be detected.Consequently, a source ID or a utilization condition can be coordinatedsafely with a content. Further, the content processing apparatus 10holds common secret information so that it can perform, for example,decoding of an encrypted content key or falsification checking of alicense. Therefore, even if a content is shared in the content sharingsystem 100, falsification of the source ID or the utilization conditionapplied to the content can be prevented suitably from being falsified.

The distribution service utilization section 152 records a content fileproduced in such a manner as described above, for example, into thecontent database 116 in the storage apparatus 111. It is to be notedthat, while, in the present embodiment, a content and a license whichcorrespond to each other are managed in the same file and stored in thecontent database 116 as described hereinabove, the manner of managementis not limited to this example. For example, a content and a file aremanaged in separate files. In this instance, the file of the content maybe stored in the content database 116 while the file of the license isstored in the license database such that the content and the license arecoordinated with each other by content IDs or the like included in thetwo files.

Further, the distribution service utilization section 152 receives, upondistribution of a content, attribute information of the distributioncontent from the content distribution server 34. The attributeinformation of the distribution content includes, for example, titleinformation (for example, a tune name, an artist (singer) name, an albumname, a genre, reproduction time and so forth), the content ID of thedistribution content, the distribution date and hour, the data size, adata format, and the type of the copyright management method. Thedistribution service utilization section 152 records such attributeinformation of a distribution content, a recording place (for example,an address in the content DB 116) of the distribution content and soforth as content management information into the content managementinformation database 118.

Such a distribution service utilization section 152 as described aboveis configured, for example, by installing software for the contentdistribution service corresponding to a content distribution service tobe utilized into the content processing apparatus 10. It is to be notedthat a plurality of such distribution service utilization sections 152may be provided each for one of a plurality of content distributionservices to be utilized by the user.

Further, the source ID application section 154 applies the group ID ofthe content processing apparatus 10 itself to a content (ripped content)ripped from the recording medium 7 a or the like by a ripping section184 hereinafter described. More particularly, the source ID applicationsection 154 reads out a recorder ID of the content processing apparatus10 stored in the self ID database 117, produces a license which includesthe recorder ID, and coordinates such a license as just described withcontent data of the ripped content. In particular, the source IDapplication section 154 produces such a content file F1 which includes acontent ID, encrypted content data of a ripped content, an encryptedcontent key and a license in which a recorder ID is described as shownin FIG. 6A. The source ID application section 154 records the rippedcontent to which the recorder ID is applied in this manner into thecontent database 116.

It is to be noted that the timing of the application of a recorder IDpreferably is a point of time at which, for example, ripping of thecontent is completed. By applying the recorder ID to the ripped contentimmediately in this manner, the recorder ID can be applied withcertainty before the ripped content which requires copyright managementthereof is distributed in the system 100. It is to be noted that thetiming of application of a recorder ID is not limited to such an exampleas described above, but may be, for example, a point of time at whichthe ripped content is reproduced for the first time, another point oftime at which the ripped content is copied into another contentprocessing apparatus 10, or the like.

In the self ID database 117, IDs corresponding to the content processingapparatus 10 itself, such as a device ID, a recorder ID, and a terminalID, are stored.

The device ID is an identifier which is applied uniquely to variouskinds of apparatus (content processing apparatus 10, contentreproduction apparatus 20 and so forth) in a unit of an apparatus. Thedevice ID is applied, for example, upon shipment of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 from a factory and is stored safely in the selfID database 117.

Meanwhile, the terminal ID is an ID applied uniquely in a unit of acontent processing apparatus 10 such as a PC. Further, the recorder IDis an identifier applied uniquely in a unit of a content processingapparatus 10 having a ripping function as described above. Such terminalID and recorder ID are produced so as to be unique to each contentprocessing apparatus 10 based on a device ID or a random number by thecontent processing apparatus 10. The IDs are encrypted in order toprevent illegal falsification and stored safely in the self ID database117.

The content processing section 160 performs various processes for acontent. The content processing section 160 is formed by installing, forexample, an application program which utilizes (for example, reproduces,transfers or the like) a content, a DRM module for managing thecopyright for such utilization and so forth into the content processingapparatus 10. The content processing section 160 includes, for example,a content reproduction section 170, a content providing section 180, acontent acquisition section 182 and a ripping section 184.

The content reproduction section 170 is a component corresponding to thecontent reproduction section 2 shown in FIG. 2. The content reproductionsection 170 is formed from, for example, a reproduction apparatus havinga content reproduction function or software for content utilizationinstalled in the content processing apparatus 10, and can reproducevarious kinds of contents. Content data reproduced by the contentreproduction section 170 are outputted from the outputting apparatus110.

The content reproduction section 170 is ready, for example, for both ofa content of the group management type and another content of thecheck-in check-out type and can execute reproduction control of thegroup management type and reproduction control of the check-in check-outtype. In particular, where the group management type is used forreproduction control, the content reproduction section 170 controlsreproduction of a content of an object of reproduction based on whetheror not the source ID applied to the content of the reproduction objectis included in the source ID list L. Meanwhile, where the check-incheck-out type is used for reproduction control, the contentreproduction section 170 controls reproduction of a content of areproduction object based on whether or not utilization conditioninformation of a license corresponding to the content of thereproduction object is satisfied. Details of such a content reproductionsection 170 as just described are hereinafter described.

It is to be noted that two or more content reproduction sections 170 maybe provided in one content processing apparatus 10. For example, byinstalling two or more kinds of software for content reproduction intoone content processing apparatus 10, by providing two or morereproduction apparatus, or by using software for content reproductionand reproduction apparatus, two or more content reproduction sections170 ready for different content distribution services or differentcopyright management methods may be configured in one content processingapparatus 10.

The content providing section 180 provides a content to another contentprocessing apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20. Further,the content acquisition section 182 acquires a content from anothercontent processing apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20.The content providing section 180 and the content acquisition section182 may execute a content providing/acquisition process, for example, bya transmission/reception process through the network 5 or the local line9 or through the storage medium 7.

It is to be noted that, upon such reproduction, provision or acquisitionof a content as described above, the content processing section 160 maycontrol the process described above based on the content managementinformation in the content management information database 118 and thecontent management information may be displayed on the outputtingapparatus 110.

The ripping section 184 rips a content recorded on a recording medium 7a such as a CD or a DVD on which music contents and/or video contentsare recoded. More particularly, the ripping section 184 controls thedrive 112, for example, in response to a user input to extractmusic/video data or the like from the recording medium 7 a and produce acontent in which such music/video data are converted in data of a format(for example, the ATRAC3 format or the like) which can be processed bythe content processing apparatus 10. To the content ripped in thismanner, the recorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10 isapplied by the source ID application section 154.

It is to be noted that a self recording section (not shown) forproducing a content newly by self audio and/or video recording inaddition to the ripping section 184. The self recording section maycollect sound and/or pick up an image around the content processingapparatus 10 to produce audio data and/or video data and perform apredetermined data process for such data to produce a content newly.Alternatively, the self recording section may convert video/audio dataof a television program, a radio program or the like received throughthe communication apparatus 115 or the like into data of a recordableformat to produce a new content. Also to a content produced by the selfrecording section, a recorder ID can be applied to manage the copyrightof the content in accordance with the group management type.

The ICV data management section 190 manages ICV (Integrity Check Value)data of the content processing apparatus 10 and ICV data of a contentreproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processing apparatus10. The ICV data are data for checking, when a process is performed fora content, the validity of the process.

In the copyright management process of the group management type, theICV data include a MAC value (hash value with a key) of the source IDlist L. Therefore, the ICV data management section 190 detects based onsuch ICV data whether or not the source ID list L is legal, that is,whether or not the source ID list L is falsified illegally. On the otherhand, in the copyright management process of the check-in check-outtype, the ICV data include a MAC value (hash value with a key) of alicense of a content. Therefore, the ICV data management section 190detects based on such ICV data whether or not the license is legal, thatis, whether or not the license is falsified illegally.

As a result, if it is decided that the source ID list L or the licenseis legal, then the ICV data management section 190 permits the processof the content processing section 160, but if it is decided that thesource ID list L or the license is not illegal, then the ICV datamanagement section 190 does not permit the process of the contentprocessing section 160.

Further, the ICV data include a flag which is an example of methodidentification information of whether the copyright management method isof the group management type or of the check-in check-out type. Forexample, if the flag is “0”, then the copyright management method is ofthe group management type, but if the flat is “1”, then the copyrightmanagement method is of the check-in check-out type. Therefore, thecontent processing section 160 can decide based on the flag inaccordance with which one of the copyright management methods thecontent should be processed.

Further, the ICV data management section 190 can manage not only ICVdata relating to the content processing apparatus 10 but also ICV dataof any content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 similarly. Consequently, by setting the value ofthe flag (method identification information) in the ICV data of any ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 using the content processing apparatus 10, thecopyright management method for the content reproduction apparatus 20can be set. At this time, the setting of the copyright management methodof the content reproduction apparatus 20 may be executed based on regioninformation representative of a region in which the system 100 is used.For example, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 is used in theUnited States, then the copyright management method may be set to thegroup management type, but if the content reproduction apparatus 20 isused in Japan, then the copyright management method may be set to thecheck-in check-out type.

Further, though not shown in the drawings, the content processingapparatus 10 may include a transfer control section for controllingtransfer of a content between the content processing apparatus (PC) 10and the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20. The transfer controlsection controls transfer of a content stored in the content processingapparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 or transfer of acontent stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10, for example, in response to a transfer requestbased on a user input.

Further, the transfer control section can perform not only transfercontrol of a content of an object of copyright management (content towhich a source ID is applied) but also transfer control of a contentwhich is not under the copyright management (for example, a raw contentto which no source ID is applied). For example, if a transfer requestfrom the content processing apparatus 10 to the content reproductionapparatus 20 or a transfer request from the content reproductionapparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10 with regard to acontent which is not under the copyright management is inputted, thenthe transfer control section compares the group ID in the source ID listof the content processing apparatus 10 and the group ID in the source IDlist of the content reproduction apparatus 20 with each other. If aresult of the comparison proves that both group IDS coincide with eachother, then the transfer control section permits the transfer, but ifthe two group IDs do not coincide with each other, then the transfercontrol section does not permit the transfer. Consequently, utilizationnot only of a content which is under the copyright management by thegroup management system but also a content which is not under thecopyright management (non-restricted copying between differentapparatus) can be restricted.

In the foregoing, the components of the content processing apparatus 10are described. The data communication section 120, group registrationsection 130, list management section 140, certificate issuance section150, distribution service utilization section 152, source ID applicationsection 154, content processing section 160, ICV data management section190, transfer control section and so forth described hereinabove may beformed, for example, as hardware having the functions describedhereinabove, or may alternatively be formed by installing a program forimplementing the functions described above into the content processingapparatus 10.

Now, the content reproduction section 170 according to the presentembodiment is described in detail with reference to FIG. 7. It is to benoted that FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematically showing functions ofthe content reproduction section 170 according to the presentembodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, the content reproduction section 170 includes, forexample, a reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172, areproduction execution section 174 and a list updating request section176.

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 controlsreproduction of a content for which a request for reproduction isissued. The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 canexecute both of reproduction control of the group management type andreproduction control of the check-in check-out type.

When the reproduction control of the group management type is to beperformed, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172decides based on a source ID (recorder ID or group ID) applied to acontent for which a reproduction request is issued and the source IDlist L whether or not reproduction of the content may be permitted.

In particular, if a request for reproduction of a content designated bya user is accepted, for example, from the inputting apparatus 108, thenthe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 reads outthe content whose reproduction request is accepted from the contentdatabase 116 and decides whether or not a source ID is applied to thecontent, that is, whether or not a source ID is described in the licensein the content file. If no source ID is applied to the content, then thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 decides that thecontent requires no copyright management and permits reproduction of thecontent, and outputs a reproduction instruction signal of the content tothe reproduction execution section 174. On the other hand, if a sourceID (recorder ID or group ID) is applied to the content, then thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 decides that thecontent requires copyright management and performs the followingprocesses.

First, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 readsout (extracts) a source ID from the license in the content file andreads out and interprets the source ID list L. Then, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 compares the source ID readout from the content and the source IDs included in the source ID list Lwith each other to decide whether or not the source ID read out from thecontent is included in the source ID list L. If, as a result of thecomparison, the source ID read out from the content is included in thesource ID list L, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 checks the term of validity of the source ID. If the sourceID is within the term of validity, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 permits reproduction of thecontent and outputs a reproduction instruction signal of the content tothe reproduction execution section 174. On the other hand, if the sourceID read out from the content is not included in the source ID list L orthe source ID is not within the term or validity, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 inhibits reproduction of thecontent and does not output a reproduction instruction signal.Therefore, the reproduction execution section 174 cannot reproduce thecontent. It is to be noted that, in this instance, an error notificationrepresenting that the reproduction conditions are not satisfied may bedisplayed.

In this manner, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section172 according to the present embodiment performs such reproductionrestriction as to completely inhibit reproduction of a content to whicha source ID which is not included in the source ID list L is applied.However, the reproduction restriction of a content is not limited to theexample just described, but the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 may perform such reproduction control as, forexample, to permit reproduction while restricting the reproduction ofthe content only to part of the content in time or in contents, topermit reproduction while the picture quality, sound quality or the likeis deteriorated or to permit reproduction only by a predetermined numberof times (for example, only once) at first but inhibit laterreproduction.

Further, for example, where the source ID applied to the content is notincluded in the source ID list L as described hereinabove, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 outputs such asource ID as just described to the list updating request section 176.

On the other hand, when reproduction control of the check-in check-outtype is to be performed, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 decides based on utilization condition information(reproduction time number restriction, reproduction validity term) inthe license corresponding to the content of the object of thereproduction request whether or not reproduction of the content shouldbe permitted. If it is decided as a result of the decision that theutilization condition of the license is satisfied, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 permits the reproduction ofthe content and outputs a reproduction instruction signal of the contentto the reproduction execution section 174. On the other hand, if it isdecided that the utilization condition of the license is satisfied, thenthe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 inhibitsreproduction of the content and does not output a reproductioninstruction signal.

The reproduction execution section 174 reproduces the designated contentin response to the reproduction instruction signal of the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172. In particular, thereproduction execution section 174 uses a service common key to decryptthe encoded content key and then uses the decrypted content key todecrypt the encoded content, whereafter the reproduction executionsection 174 decodes and reproduces the decrypted content and outputs thereproduced content from the outputting apparatus 110.

The list updating request section 176 issues a request for addition ofthe recorder ID to the source ID list L to the list management section140. The addition requesting process in this instance is performed, forexample, by outputting an ID addition requesting signal representing arecorder ID of the object of addition to the list management section140.

In particular, for example, if a source ID which is not included in thesource ID list L is inputted from the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172, then the list updating request section 176 decideswhether the source ID is a recorder ID or a group ID. If, as a result ofthe decision, the source ID is a recorder ID, then the list updatingrequest section 176 requests the list management section 140 to add therecorder ID to the source ID list L. The list updating request section176 may perform the addition requesting process automatically or mayperform the addition request process after it confirms whether or notthe user wants addition of the recorder ID. On the other hand, if theresult of the decision indicates that the source ID is a group ID, thenthe list updating request section 176 does not perform the additionrequesting process. This is because the content processing apparatus 10can be registered into an apparatus group of only one user.

Now, the list management section 140 according to the present embodimentis described in detail with reference to FIG. 8. It is to be noted thatFIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of thelist management section 140 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8, the list management section 140 includes, forexample, a certificate request section 141, a certification acquisitionsection 142, a recorder ID updating section 144, a list synchronizationsection 146, a self ID addition section 148 and a group ID updatingsection 149.

The certificate request section 141 transmits a certificate requestingsignal to a different content processing apparatus 10 or the certificatemanagement server 36 in response to a user input or automatically torequest for a group certificate G issued by the different contentprocessing apparatus 10 which belongs to the same apparatus group. Forexample, the certificate request section 141 may issue a notification ofa recorder ID relating to the request for addition from the contentreproduction section 170 to a particular content processing apparatus 10or the certificate management server 36 to request for a groupcertificate G which includes the recorder ID. Alternatively, thecertificate request section 141 may transmit the group ID owned by thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself to a different content processingapparatus 10 or the certificate management server 36 at an arbitrarytiming to request for one, two or more group certificates G which eachincludes a recorder ID relating to the recorder ID (that is, therecorder ID of the different content processing apparatus 10 whichbelongs to the same apparatus group).

The certification acquisition section 142 acquires a group certificate Gfrom a different content processing apparatus 10 or the certificatemanagement server 36. In particular, the certification acquisitionsection 142 can receive and acquire a group certificate G from anexternal content processing apparatus 10 or the certificate managementserver 36 through the network 5 and the communication apparatus 115.Further, the certification acquisition section 142 can use the drive 112to read out and acquire a group certificate G recorded on the storagemedium 7 provided from a different content processing apparatus 10. Thecertification acquisition section 142 outputs the group certificate Gacquired in this manner to the recorder ID updating section 144.

The recorder ID updating section 144 adds the recorder ID to the sourceID list L based on the group certificate G inputted from thecertification acquisition section 142. In particular, the recorder IDupdating section 144 first reads out the group ID included in the groupcertificate G and reads out the group ID in the source ID list L. Then,the recorder ID updating section 144 decides whether or not the twogroup IDs coincide with each other. If a result of the decisionindicates that the two group IDs coincide with each other, then therecorder ID updating section 144 reads out the recorder ID correspondingto the different content processing apparatus 10 included in the groupcertificate G and adds the recorder ID to the source ID list L. On theother hand, if the two group IDs do not coincide with each other, thenthe recorder ID included in the group certificate G is not added to thesource ID list L.

Consequently, only a recorder ID corresponding to each contentprocessing apparatus 10 recorded in the same apparatus group can beadded to the source ID list L. It is to be noted that the recorder IDupdating section 144 may restrict addition of recorder IDs by providingan upper limit to the number of recorder IDs which can be added to thesource ID list L.

The list synchronization section 146 has a function of synchronizing aplurality of source ID lists L with each other. The synchronization ofsource ID lists L here signifies merging of a plurality of source IDlists L which are different from each other, and the source ID list Lafter the synchronization includes all of those recorder IDs which havebeen included in the plural original source ID lists L without anyoverlap.

The synchronization process of source ID lists L can be executed onlybetween those content processing apparatus 10 which have the same groupID. In particular, the list synchronization section 146 acquires thesource ID lists L possessed by another content processing apparatus 10or content reproduction apparatus 20 and, only when the group IDincluded in the source ID list L and the group ID included in the sourceID list L of the self content processing apparatus 10 coincide with eachother, the list synchronization section 146 can synchronize the twosource ID lists L.

By such a synchronization process as described above, the recorder IDsincluded in the source ID lists L possessed by a plurality of apparatusregistered in the same apparatus group can be made same as each other.Therefore, a ripped content can be shared between and reproduced by thecontent processing apparatus 10.

It is to be noted that the synchronization process may be performedperiodically or automatically at an arbitrary timing between the contentprocessing apparatus 10, for example, in a private network by the listsynchronization section 146 or may be performed between designatedparticular content processing apparatus 10 in response to an instructionof the user. Further, such a synchronization process as described abovecan be executed not only between the content processing apparatus 10connected to each other by a private network or between the contentprocessing apparatus 10 connected to each other by the local line 9 butalso between the content processing apparatus 10 connected remotely toeach other through the network 5.

The self ID addition section 148 adds the recorder ID corresponding tothe content processing apparatus 10 itself, for example, unconditionallyto the source ID list L. In particular, the self ID addition section 148reads out the recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus 10 itself, for example, from the self ID database 117 andwrites the recorder ID into the source ID list L. Consequently, thecontent processing apparatus 10 can reproduce a ripped content ripped bythe content processing apparatus 10 itself irrespective of whether ornot there exists a group registration. It is to be noted that the groupID may be produced based on a random number or the like by the self IDaddition section and recorded into the self ID database 117.

The group ID updating section 149 adds, for example, when a group ID isinputted from the group registration section 130 upon group registrationof the content processing apparatus 10, such a group ID as justmentioned into the source ID list L. Consequently, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is enabled to reproduce a distribution contenthaving the group ID applied thereto.

Further, if a group registration cancellation notification is inputtedfrom the group registration section 130, then the group ID updatingsection 149 deletes all source IDs (recorder IDs, group IDs) included inthe source ID list L. However, only the recorder ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself is not deleted from the source IDlist L. Consequently, the content processing apparatus 10 is permittedto reproduce only a ripped content produced by the content processingapparatus 10 itself and those contents which are not under copyrightmanagement.

It is to be noted that the recorder ID updating section 144 and thegroup ID updating section 149 can update and return the source ID list Lreceived from the content reproduction apparatus 20.

The list management section 140 according to the present embodiment isdescribed above. In this manner, the list management section 140 adds agroup ID obtained by group registration to the source ID list L and addsthe recorder ID of any content processing apparatus 10 which belongs tothe same apparatus group based on whether or not the group ID is same tothe source ID list L. Consequently, those content processing apparatus10 which are registered in the same apparatus group can freely reproducea copied distribution content and a ripped content. On the other hand,reproduction of a copied content can be restricted and illegalutilization of a content can be prevented between those contentprocessing apparatus 10 which are registered in different apparatusgroups or are not registered as yet.

It is to be noted that only one representative list management section140 may be provided in a certain content processing apparatus 10 fromamong a plurality of content processing apparatus 10 and contentreproduction apparatus 20 in a private network such that such a listmanagement section 140 as just mentioned collectively updates the sourceID lists L of the content processing apparatus 10 and the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In this instance, the representative listmanagement section 140 is preferably provided, for example, in aconnection server apparatus in a private network.

<4. Content Processing Apparatus (PD)>

Now, a configuration of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20according to the present embodiment is described in detail.

First, a hardware configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 20according to the present embodiment is described with reference to FIG.9. It is to be noted that FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematicallyshowing an example of a hardware configuration of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the content reproduction apparatus 20 includes, forexample, a main control apparatus 201, a flash memory 202, a RAM 203, adata processing apparatus 204, a bus 206, an inputting apparatus 208, adisplay apparatus 210, a storage apparatus (HDD) 211, a decoder 213, acommunication apparatus 215, an audio outputting circuit 216, a remotecontroller 218, and headphones 219.

The main control apparatus 201 functions as a control apparatus andcontrols the components of the content reproduction apparatus 20. Theflash memory 202 stores, for example, a program which defines action ofthe main control apparatus 201 and various data. Meanwhile, the RAM 203is formed from, for example, an SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) and temporarilystores various data relating to processes of the main control apparatus201.

The data processing apparatus 204 is formed from a system LSI or thelike and processes data to be transferred in the content reproductionapparatus 20. The bus 206 is a data line which interconnects the maincontrol apparatus 201, flash memory 202, RAM 203, data processingapparatus 204, inputting apparatus 208, display apparatus 210, storageapparatus (HDD) 211, decoder 213, communication apparatus 215, audiooutputting circuit 216 and so forth.

The inputting apparatus 208 and the remote controller 218 are formedfrom operation elements such as a touch panel, button keys, levers, anddials, and an input control circuit which produces an input signal inresponse to an operation of any of the operation elements by the userand outputs the input signal to the main control apparatus 201. The userof the content reproduction apparatus 20 can input various data or inputa processing action instruction to the content reproduction apparatus 20by operating the inputting apparatus 208 or the remote controller 218which is hereinafter described.

The display apparatus 210 is formed from, for example, an LCD panel, andan LCD control circuit. The display apparatus 210 displays various kindsof information in the form of a text or an image under the control ofthe main control apparatus 201. For example, the display apparatus 210can display title information of contents held in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 such that it can be decided whether or notreproduction is permitted as hereinafter described.

The storage apparatus 211 is an apparatus for data storage formed as anexample of a storage section of the content reproduction apparatus 20according to the present embodiment. The storage apparatus 211 is formedfrom, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) having a storage capacity ofseveral tens GB and stores compressed contents, programs of the maincontrol apparatus 201 and various data such as processing data.

The decoder 213 performs a decryption process, a decoding process, asurround process, a conversion process into PCM data and so forth ofencrypted contents data.

The communication apparatus 215 is formed from a USB controller, a USBterminal and so forth and transmits and receives various data such ascontents, a source ID list L, ICV data, content management informationand control signals to and from a content processing apparatus 10connected through the local line 9 such as a USB cable.

The audio outputting circuit 216 amplifies analog audio data decoded bythe decoder 213 and DA converted by the CPU and outputs the amplifiedanalog audio data to the remote controller 218. The analog audio dataare outputted from the remote controller 218 to the headphones 219 andoutputted from a speaker built in the headphones 219.

Here, principal data flows in the content reproduction apparatus 20having such a hardware configuration as described above are described.

First, a data flow when the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20receives a content from a content processing apparatus (PC) 10 isdescribed. When the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the contentprocessing apparatus 10 are connected to each other by the local line 9such as a USB cable, the content processing apparatus 10 recognizes thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 as a removable HDD. If, in this state,the content processing apparatus 10 transmits content data and controlinformation such as ICV data to the content reproduction apparatus 20,then the communication apparatus 215 receive the data. Then, thereceived content data are stored directly into the storage apparatus 211by the communication apparatus 215. Meanwhile, the control informationreceived by the communication apparatus 215 is inputted to the maincontrol apparatus 201 via the data processing apparatus 204 and storedinto a predetermined storage region.

Now, a data flow when the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20reproduces a content is described. First, a reproduction request of acontent is inputted to the main control apparatus 201, and ifreproduction of the content is permitted by the main control apparatus201, then the data processing apparatus 204 reads out content data of anobject of reproduction from the storage apparatus 211 and transfers thecontent data to the RAM 203 and simultaneously and parallelly transfersthe content data transferred to the RAM 203 to the decoder 213. Then,the decoder 213 performs a decryption process, a decoding process, asurround process, a conversion process into PCM data and so forth of thecontent data in an encrypted form and transfers resulting data to themain control apparatus 201. Further, the display apparatus 210 performsvolume adjustment of the PCM data inputted thereto by means of a DAconverter (not shown) and converts resulting data into analog audiodata, and transfers the analog audio data to an amplifier of the audiooutputting circuit 216. The audio outputting circuit 216 outputs theanalog audio data from the headphones 219 through the remote controller218.

Now, principal functions of the content reproduction apparatus 20according to the present embodiment are described with reference to FIG.10. It is to be noted that FIG. 10 is a block diagram schematicallyshowing functions of the content reproduction apparatus 20 according tothe present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 10, each content reproduction apparatus 20 includes,for example, a data communication section 220, a storage section 230, areproduction control type decision section 240, a reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242, a reproduction executionsection 244, a title list production section 250 and a content selectionsection 252.

The data communication section 220 utilizes the communication apparatus215 to transmit and receive data to and from a content processingapparatus 10 through the local line 9.

The storage section 230 is formed from, for example, the storageapparatus 211, flash memory 202 and so forth described hereinabove andstores various data in the content reproduction apparatus 20. Thestorage section 230 has, for example, ICV data 231, a source ID list L,a content database 234 and a content management information database 236stored therein.

The ICV data 231 are produced by the ICV data management section 190 ofa content processing apparatus 10 and transferred to the contentreproduction apparatus 20, and are used to check the validity of acontent reproduction process in the content reproduction apparatus 20.The ICV data 231 include, for example, a 1-bit flag 232 applied to aheader part, and a MAC value 233.

The flag 232 is an example of method identification informationrepresentative of a reproduction control method (copyright managementmethod) of the content reproduction apparatus 20. For example, where thereproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus 20 isset to the group management type, the flag 232 is “0”, but where thereproduction control method is set to the check-in check-out type, thenthe flag 232 is “1”.

Further, where the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is set to the group management type by thecontent processing apparatus 10, the MAC value 233 is a MAC value of thesource ID list L. On the other hand, where the reproduction controlmethod is set to the check-in check-out type, the MAC value 233 is a MACvalue produced based on a license including utilization conditioninformation of each content.

Further, the source ID list L in the storage section 230 issubstantially same as the source ID list L of a content processingapparatus 10 described hereinabove. As the content reproductionapparatus 20 is group-registered, the group ID is added, and also therecorder ID of each of the content processing apparatus 10 which belongto the same apparatus group is added. In the present embodiment, thesource ID list L is updated by the list management section 140 of thecontent processing apparatus 10. However, a list management section maybe provided in the content reproduction apparatus 20 such that thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 itself updates the source ID list L.

Further, the content database 234 stores a content transferred from acontent processing apparatus 10. Where the reproduction control methodof the content reproduction apparatus 20 is set to the group managementtype, the content to which such a license including a source ID as shownin FIG. 6A is applied is stored in the content database 234. However,where the reproduction control method is set to the check-in check-outtype, the content to which such a license including utilizationcondition information as illustrated in FIG. 6B is applied is stored inthe content database 234.

In the content management information database 236, attributeinformation of each content stored in the content database 234 such as acontent ID and title information (tune name, artist name, album name andso forth) of the title, recording place information (for example, anaddress in the content database 234) and so forth are recorded similarlyas in the content management information database 118 of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 described hereinabove.

Further, for example, the device ID of the content reproductionapparatus 20 is stored safely in a self ID database not shown in thestorage section 230. The device ID is an ID applied uniquely in a unitof a content reproduction apparatus 20 upon shipment from a factory, andis used upon group registration of the content reproduction apparatus20.

The reproduction control type decision section 240 reads out, forexample, upon reproduction of a content or the like, the flag 232 of theICV data 231 described hereinabove and decides a reproduction controlmethod of the content reproduction apparatus 20 set by the contentprocessing apparatus 10 based on the flag 232. In particular, forexample, where the flag 232 is “0”, the reproduction control typedecision section 240 decides that the reproduction control method is ofthe group management type (first reproduction control method), but wherethe flag 232 is “1”, the reproduction control type decision section 240decides that the reproduction control method is of the check-incheck-out type (second reproduction control method). The reproductioncontrol type decision section 240 outputs a result of the decision tothe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242.

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 decidesbased on the reproduction control method decided by the reproductioncontrol type decision section 240 whether or not reproduction of thecontent whose request for reproduction is received should be permitted.The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 includes afirst reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 a whichperforms reproduction control in accordance with a copyright managementscheme of the group management type and a second reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 b which performs reproductioncontrol in accordance with a copyright management scheme of the check-incheck-out type.

If it is decided by the reproduction control type decision section 240that the reproduction control method of the content reproductionapparatus 20 is of the group management type (first reproduction controlmethod), then the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section242 renders the first reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 a operative to decide whether or not reproduction of thecontent should be performed based on the source ID applied to thecontent of the object of reproduction and the source ID list L. It is tobe noted that, if a term of validity is set to the source ID in thesource ID list L, then reproduction of the content is permitted when thesource ID is within the term of validity.

On the other hand, if it is decided that the reproduction control methodof the content reproduction apparatus 20 is of the check-in check-outtype (first reproduction control method), then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 renders the secondreproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 b operative todecide whether or not reproduction of the content should be permittedbased on utilization condition information (reproduction time numberrestriction, term of validity for reproduction and so forth) of thelicense applied to the content of the object of reproduction. It is tobe noted that the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section242 has substantially same functions as those of the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 of the content processingapparatus 10 described hereinabove, and therefore, detailed descriptionof the same is omitted.

The reproduction execution section 244 reproduces a content, which isdecided to be permitted to be reproduced by the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 and outputs the content tothe audio output circuit. It is to be noted that the reproductionexecution section 244 has substantially same functions as those of thereproduction execution section 174 of the content processing apparatus10 described hereinabove, and therefore, detailed description of thesame is omitted.

The title list production section 250 reads out title information of allor some of contents stored in the content database 234 from the contentmanagement information database 236 and produces a list (hereinafterreferred to as “title list”) of the contents. The title list is a tableof tune names of music contents and includes, as incidental information,an artist name or an album name, reproduction time and so forth of eachmusic content. Further, the title list production section 250 causes theproduced title list to be displayed on the display apparatus 210.Consequently, the user can read the title list to select a content whosereproduction is desired and operate the inputting apparatus 208 todesignate the title information of the content and issue a reproductionrequest. In this manner, the title list production section 250 and thedisplay section 210 in the present embodiment are configured as anexample of a display section which displays title information of one,two or more contents held by the content reproduction apparatus 20.

The content selection section 252 selects a content of an object ofreproduction based on a user input to the inputting apparatus 208 andoutputs a result of the selection to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242. In particular, the contentselection section 252 reads out a content ID and a storage place of acontent, whose reproduction is requested by the user, corresponding totext information of the content from the content management informationdatabase 236 and outputs such information to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242. As a result, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 performsreproduction permission/inhibition decision regarding the selectedcontent of the object of reproduction, and only those contents which canbe reproduced are reproduced by the reproduction execution section 244.

Further, the title list production section 250 may produce a title listsuch that title information of those contents which can be reproducedand title information of those contents which cannot be reproduced canbe decided and cause the title list to be displayed. In this instance,the title list production section 250 first requests the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 described above to decidewhether or not each content of an object of display can be reproduced,and produces, based on a result of the decision, a title list in whichthose contents which can be reproduced and those contents which cannotbe reproduced can be identified from each other. Consequently, the usercan selectively designate a content whose reproduction is desired fromamong those contents which can be reproduced. In this manner, wheretitle information of a content desired by the user is selected fromamong those contents which are displayed on the display apparatus 210and can be reproduced, the content selection section 252 outputs acontent ID and a storage place of a content corresponding to theselected title information to the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 242 so that the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 242 reproduces the content without performing adecision with regard to whether or not reproduction is permitted.

The functional configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 20according to the present embodiment is described above. The contentreproduction apparatus 20 can selectively execute reproduction controlof the group management type and reproduction control of the check-incheck-out type in accordance with setting by the content processingapparatus 10. Therefore, not only the convenience of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to the user is enhanced, but also enhancementof the efficiency in development work and reduction of the cost can beanticipated because there is no necessity to design and develop contentreproduction apparatus 20 of different models which are ready for theindividual reproduction control methods.

Further, each content reproduction apparatus 20 is ready for suchcopyright management of the group management type that reproduction of acontent is controlled based on the source ID applied to the content andthe source ID list L. Therefore, since the user can freely download andreproduce a content from a content processing apparatus 10 owned by theuser itself to the content reproduction apparatus 20, the contentutilization by the user is higher in the degree of freedom and is moreuser-friendly than that of the conventional check-in check-out type.

It is to be noted that the data communication section 220, reproductioncontrol type decision section 240, reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 242, reproduction execution section 244, title listproduction section 250, content selection section 252 and so forthdescribed hereinabove may be configured, for example, as hardware havingthe functions described hereinabove or may be configured by installing aprogram, which causes a computer to implement the functions describedhereinabove, into the content reproduction apparatus 20.

Further, in the embodiment described above, where a source ID is notapplied to a content, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 of the content reproduction apparatus 20 decides that thecontent does not require copyright management and permits reproductionof the content and then outputs a reproduction instruction signal of thecontent to the reproduction execution section 244. In particular, thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is configured such that it can freelyreproduce a content which is not protected by the copyright such as acontent to which no source ID is applied. Utilization restriction ofsuch a content which is not under copyright protection as describedabove can be implemented by the group management system described above.A technique therefor is described below.

First, if the transfer control section (not shown) of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 described above accepts a request for transferof a content, which is stored in the content database 116 but is notprotected by the copyright, to the content reproduction apparatus 20,then it acquires the source ID list L in the content reproductionapparatus 20 connected to the content processing apparatus 10 by thelocal line 9 (step 1).

Then, the transfer control section compares the group ID in the acquiredsource ID list of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the group IDin the source ID list L possessed by the transfer control section itselfwith each other (step 2).

If a result of the comparison reveals that the two group IDs describedabove coincide with each other, then the transfer control sectionpermits the transfer of the content which is not protected by thecopyright and whose transfer request has been received from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20, but ifthe two group IDs do not coincide with each other, then the transfercontrol section inhibits the transfer (step 3).

Further, although transfer of a content which is not protected by thecopyright from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is basically inhibited, also it is possible toadopt an alternative configuration that transfer of part of the contentis permitted by the group management system described above. In thefollowing, a technique for the alternative configuration is described.

First, if the transfer control section of the content processingapparatus 10 accepts a request for transfer of a content, which isstored in the content reproduction apparatus 20 but is not protected bythe copyright, to the content processing apparatus 10 from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processing apparatus10 through the local line 9, then it acquires the source ID list L inthe content reproduction apparatus 20 (step 1).

Then, the transfer control section compares the group ID in the acquiredsource ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the groupID in the source ID list L possessed by the transfer control sectionitself with each other (step 2).

If a result of the comparison reveals that the two group IDs describedabove coincide with each other, then the transfer control sectionpermits the transfer of the content which is not protected by thecopyright and whose transfer request has been received from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10, but ifthe two group IDs do not coincide with each other, then the transfercontrol section inhibits the transfer (step 3).

In this manner, in the copyright management system of the groupmanagement system according to the present embodiment, copying transferalso of a content which is not protected by the copyright is restrictedfor utilization restriction by controlling transfer between the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20.

<5. Server>

Now, a configuration of the server 30 according to the presentembodiment is described in detail with reference to FIG. 11. It is to benoted that FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing functions ofthe server 30 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 11, the server 30 includes a WWW server 31, a groupmanagement server 32, a content distribution server 34, a certificatemanagement server 36 and a charging server 38.

Of the components mentioned, the WWW server 31, group management server32 and certificate management server 36 form a content sharing serviceexecution section and execute a content sharing service ofgroup-registering a plurality of content processing apparatus 10 andcontent reproduction apparatus 20 and sharing a content among thegroup-registered apparatus. Further, the WWW server 31, contentdistribution server 34 and charging server 38 form a distributionservice execution section and perform a content distribution service ofdistributing a content to the user of the content processing apparatus10, for example, for pay.

In the following, functional configurations of the servers 31, 32, 34,36 and 38 according to the present embodiment are describedindividually. It is to be noted that the hardware configuration of theservers 31, 32, 34, 36 and 38 according to the present embodiment issimilar to the hardware configuration of the content processingapparatus (PC) 10 described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 4, andtherefore, description of the same is omitted.

First, the WWW server 31 is described. The WWW server 31 accepts arequest from a content processing apparatus 10 accessing thereto throughthe network 5 and controls communication between the content processingapparatus 10 and the server 30. The WWW server 31 includes a userregistration section 312 and a user authentication section 314.

The user registration section 312 performs a registration process of anew user who desires utilization of the content sharing service and/orcontent distribution service, a registration changing process, aregistration cancellation process, management of user accountinformation (such as user ID, credit number, and password), and soforth. To a service-registered user, a unique leaf ID is applied in aunit of a user. Various user account information and leaf IDs determinedby such a registration process by the user registration section 312 asdescribed above are stored into a group registration database 324.However, the management is not limited to such an example as justdescribed, but a user registration database may be provided in the WWWserver 31 such that the user account information and leaf IDs aremanaged in the user registration database.

The user authentication section 314 performs a user authenticationprocess of authenticating, for example, in response to a connectionrequest (registration request, registration cancellation request,content distribution request, certificate request, user accountinformation changing request or the like) from a content processingapparatus 10 owned by the user registered in the content sharing serviceand/or the content distribution service in such a manner as describedabove, the user who owns the content processing apparatus 10 of thesource of the request. The user authentication is performed, forexample, based on user account information and so forth inputted by theuser and the user account information of the group registration database324. The authenticated user is, for example, permitted to log in thegroup management server 32, content distribution server 34, certificatemanagement server 36 or the like.

Now, the group management server 32 is described. The group managementserver 32 group-registers a plurality of content processing apparatus 10and content reproduction apparatus 20 owned by the same user. The groupmanagement server 32 includes an apparatus registration section 322 anda group registration database 324.

The group registration database 324 is stored in a storage apparatus(not shown) such as an HDD provided in the group management server 32.As seen in FIG. 12, in the group registration database 324, for example,user account information (user ID 3241, credit card number 3242) of auser who enjoys provision of the content sharing service and the contentdistribution service, a leaf ID 3243 corresponding to the user, anapparatus ID 3244 of a group-registered content processing apparatus 10or content reproduction apparatus 20, and a recorder ID 3245 of anapparatus having a ripping function from among the group-registeredcontent processing apparatus 10 are stored in an associated relationshipwith each other.

To one user ID (user account) 3241, for example, one leaf ID 3243 isallocated. Further, with the leaf ID 3243 of each user, apparatus IDs(terminal IDs or device IDs) 3244 of one, two or more content processingapparatus 10 and content reproduction apparatus 20 registered in anapparatus group of the user represented by the leaf ID are associated.Here, the terminal ID described above is registered as the apparatus ID3244 of the content processing apparatus (PC) 10, and the device IDdescribed above is registered as the apparatus ID 3244 of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20. Furthermore, with the terminal ID, therecorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10 having a rippingfunction is associated.

The apparatus registration section 322 group-registers a contentprocessing apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20 of aregistration requesting source into an apparatus group owned by a userauthenticated by the user authentication section 314 describedhereinabove. The group registration process is performed, for example,when group registration request information (for example, a registrationrequesting notification, a terminal ID or a device ID, a recorder ID orthe like) is received from the group registration section 130 of thecontent processing apparatus 10 after the user authentication process isperformed. When an apparatus is to be group-registered, an apparatus ID(terminal ID or device ID, a recorder ID and so forth) of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 or the content reproduction apparatus 20 of theregistration requesting source is written into a location of the columnof the apparatus ID 3244 of the group registration database 324described hereinabove which corresponds to the authenticated userdescribed above. By this, the apparatus ID of the group-registeredapparatus and the leaf ID (apparatus group) applied to the authenticateduser described hereinabove are associated with each other.

Further, the apparatus registration section 322 inhibits the samecontent processing apparatus 10 from being registered into differentapparatus groups. To this end, the apparatus registration section 322searches the group registration database 324 and, if the apparatus ID ofthe content processing apparatus 10 of the registration requestingsource is stored already, the apparatus registration section 322 rejectsregistration of the content processing apparatus 10 or the contentreproduction apparatus 20 so that the apparatus ID may not be writtennewly into the group registration database 324. Consequently, it ispossible to cause one content processing apparatus 10 or one contentreproduction apparatus 20 to belong to only one apparatus group.

Further, it is also possible for the apparatus registration section 322to set an upper limit to the number of content processing apparatus 10or content reproduction apparatus 20 which can be registered into thesame apparatus group, particularly an upper limit of the number ofcontent processing apparatus 10 which can be associated with a leaf IDof the same user. For example, the apparatus registration section 322may set the upper limit number to the number of content processingapparatus (PC) 10 which can be registered in the same apparatus group,for example, to a predetermined number (for example, three) such thatonly a number of terminal IDs up to the predetermined upper limit number(for example, to three) are associated with a certain leaf ID. In thisinstance, if a number of registration requests exceeding such an upperlimit number as described above are received from content processingapparatus (PC) 10 each having a terminal ID as an apparatus ID, then theapparatus registration section 322 rejects the registration of theregistration requests. By this, the number of content processingapparatus (PC) 10 which can be registered in the same apparatus groupcan be restricted, for example, to three or less, and consequently, thenumber of content processing apparatus 10 which can receive adistribution content in the same apparatus group can be restricted.

Further, as another example of the number described above, for example,the apparatus registration section 322 may set an upper limit number(for example, 10) to recorder IDs which can be associated with the samegroup ID. In this instance, if a number of registration requestsexceeding such an upper limit number as described above are receivedfrom content processing apparatus (PC) 10 each having a recorder ID,then the apparatus registration section 322 rejects the registration.Consequently, since the number of content processing apparatus 10 havinga ripping function which can be registered in the same apparatus groupcan be restricted, the number of content processing apparatus 10 whichcan serve as a providing source of a ripped content which can be sharedin the same apparatus group can be restricted.

Further, when a content processing apparatus 10 is registered into apredetermined apparatus group, the apparatus registration section 322notifies the group-registered content processing apparatus 10 of servicedata. The service data include, for example, a leaf ID corresponding tothe authenticated user (registered apparatus group) described above, anda service common key for utilizing a content. Consequently, thegroup-registered content processing apparatus 10 can receive a leaf ID,convert the leaf ID into a group ID and adds the group ID to the sourceID list L of the content processing apparatus 10 itself.

It is to be noted that a leaf ID may not be conveyed from the 322 of thegroup management server 32 to the content processing apparatus 10 inthis manner, but the apparatus registration section 322 may produce agroup ID based on the leaf ID and so forth and notify the contentprocessing apparatus 10 of the produced group ID. In this instance, thecontent processing apparatus 10 by itself may not produce a group ID butcan add the group ID received from the group management server 32 as itis to the source ID list L.

Further, the apparatus registration section 322 cancels a registrationof a content processing apparatus 10 of a registration cancellationrequesting source from an apparatus group owned by an authenticateduser. This group registration cancellation process is performed whengroup registration cancellation request information (for example, agroup registration cancellation requesting notification, a terminal IDor a device ID, a recorder ID or the like) is received from the groupregistration section 130 of the content processing apparatus 10 afterthe user authentication process is performed. When a group registrationof an apparatus is to be cancelled, an apparatus ID (terminal ID, deviceID) of a content processing apparatus 10 or a content reproductionapparatus 20 which is the registration cancellation requesting sourcedescribed hereinabove is deleted from the column of the apparatus ID3244 of the group registration database 324 described hereinabove.However, a recorder ID is not deleted even if a registration of acorresponding content processing apparatus (PC) 10 is canceled.Consequently, if a number of content processing apparatus 10, which havea ripping function, equal to the predetermined upper limit numberdescribed hereinabove (for example, 10) are group-registered once, theneven if the registration of one of the content processing apparatus 10is canceled later, a new content processing apparatus 10 cannot beregistered additionally. Accordingly, the registration number of contentprocessing apparatus 10 which can produce a ripped content which can beshared can be suppressed to make copyright management of ripped contentssevere.

Now, the certificate management server 36 is described. The certificatemanagement server 36 collects and manages group certificates G issued bythe content processing apparatus 10 and distributes a group certificateG to any other content processing apparatus 10 which belongs to anapparatus group of the same user. The certificate management server 36includes a certificate management section 362 and a certificate database364.

The certificate database 364 is stored in a storage apparatus (notshown) such as an HDD provided in the certificate management server 36.The certificate database 364 stores the group certificates G issued bythe content processing apparatus 10 in an associated relationship withthe users (leaf IDs) of the content processing apparatus 10.

The certificate management section 362 acquires the group certificates Gissued by the content processing apparatus 10 through the network 5 andstores the acquired group certificates G in an associated relationshipwith the users into the certificate database 364. Further, thecertificate management section 362 reads the group certificates G ofone, two or more content processing apparatus 10 which belong to anapparatus group of a certain user from such a certificate database 364as described above and distributes the group certificates G to the othercontent processing apparatus 10 and so forth which belong to the sameapparatus group.

For example, when a content processing apparatus 10 is group-registeredby the group management server 32, the certificate management section362 acquires a group certificate G in which the recorder ID of thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the group ID are associated witheach other from the registered content processing apparatus 10 andstores the group certificate G into the certificate database 364.Further, when another content processing apparatus 10 is registerednewly into the same apparatus group, the certificate management section362 distributes the group certificates G of the content processingapparatus 10 registered already in the same apparatus group to the newlyregistered content processing apparatus 10. Consequently, the newlyregistered content processing apparatus 10 can share a ripped content byacquiring the recorder IDs of the registered content processingapparatus 10 and adding the acquired recorder IDs to the source ID listL.

Further, when a certificate distribution request is received from acontent processing apparatus 10 registered already, when the contentprocessing apparatus 10 accesses the server 30 or in a like case, thecertificate management section 362 may distribute, to the contentprocessing apparatus 10, the group certificates G of the other contentprocessing apparatus 10 which belong to the same apparatus group.

Further, if a registration of a content processing apparatus 10 iscanceled, then the certificate management section 362 deletes the groupcertificate G of the content processing apparatus 10 whose registrationis canceled from the certificate database 364.

In this manner, the certificate management section 362 of thecertificate management server 36 manages the group certificates G issuedby the content processing apparatus 10 in a centralized fashion anddistributes the group certificates G to the other content processingapparatus 10 which belong to the same apparatus group. Consequently, anycontent processing apparatus 10 can acquire the group certificates G ofthe other content processing apparatus 10 without directly connectingthe content processing apparatus 10 to each other. Furthermore, sincethe certificate management server 36 performs centralized management ofthe group certificates G, any content processing apparatus 10 can alwaysacquire the latest group certificates G. For example, any contentprocessing apparatus 10 can acquire the group certificates G of all ofthe content processing apparatus 10 which belong to an apparatus groupof the same user and add the recorder IDs of the content processingapparatus 10 to the source ID list L.

Now, the content distribution server 34 is described. The contentdistribution server 34 distributes a content, for example, for pay to acontent processing apparatus 10 of a user who has a user registrationfor the content distribution service. The content distribution server 34is configured so as to be capable of distributing both of contents whichare ready for the copyright management scheme of the group managementtype described hereinabove and contents which are ready for thecopyright management scheme of the check-in check-out type describedhereinabove.

The content distribution server 34 includes, for example, a licenseissuance section 342, a content distribution section 344, a licensedatabase 346 and a content database 348.

The license database 346 and the content database 348 are stored in astorage apparatus (not shown) such as a HDD provided in the contentdistribution server 34. The license database 346 is a database forstoring a license issued upon distribution of a content. The contentdatabase 348 is a database for a plurality of contents which are anobject of distribution of the content distribution service.

The content distribution section 344 allows, for example, a user who hasbeen authenticated successfully to read a list of distributable contentsand select that one of the distribution contents which the user wants tobe distributed. Further, the content distribution section 344distributes a selected distribution content to a content processingapparatus 10 utilized by the user through the network 5. It is to benoted that the distribution process requires, for example, such acharging process as hereinafter described as a requirement.

Further, the content distribution section 344 transmits also information(content ID, title information (tune name, artist name, album name,reproduction time and so forth)) relating to a distribution contentstored, for example, in the content database 348 or the like in anassociated relationship with the distribution content.

The license issuance section 342 issues a license (right information;Usage Right) of a content distributed by the content distributionsection 344 described hereinabove. The license issuance section 342 canissue a license of a different type depending upon the type of thecopyright management method.

For example, where copyright management of the group management type isto be performed, the license issuance section 342 issues a licenseincluding a leaf ID corresponding to the user who purchases adistribution content in an associated relationship with the distributioncontent. Thereupon, the license issuance section 342 may acquire theleaf ID corresponding to the user from the group registration database324 described hereinabove or may be acquired from the userauthentication section 314.

After the license issuance section 342 issues a license in this manner,the content distribution server 34 transmits a file of the distributioncontent and a file of the license including the leaf ID corresponding tothe user who purchases the distribution contents in an associatedrelationship with each other to the content processing apparatus 10. Asa result, the content processing apparatus 10 receiving such adistribution content and a license as described above converts the leafID into a group ID and applies the group ID to the distribution contentsuch that the group ID functions as a source ID for the distributioncontent to execute copyright management of the group management typedescribed hereinabove.

On the other hand, where copyright management of the check-in check-outtype is to be performed, the license issuance section 342 issues alicense, in which utilization condition information (Usage rule) such ascheck-in/out time number restriction, reproduction time numberrestriction, reproduction validity term and so forth is described, in anassociated relationship with the distribution content. Thereupon, thelicense issuance section 342 may produce a license of a utilizationcondition type desired by the user based on license model information ofthe license database 346.

After the license issuance section 342 issues a license in this manner,the content distribution server 34 transmits a file of the distributioncontent and a file of the license including the utilization conditioninformation in an associated relationship with each other to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. As a result, the content processing apparatus10 receiving such a distribution content and a license including theutilization condition information as described above executes copyrightmanagement of the check-in check-out type based on the license.

The license issuance section 342 stores and manages the issued licenseinto and in the license database 346.

As described above, upon distribution of a content to a contentprocessing apparatus 10, the content distribution server 34 transmitsthe distribution content and the license thereof in a set. Thereupon,when a content of the group management type is to be distributed, thecontent distribution server 34 places the leaf ID into the license, butwhen a content of the check-in check-out type is to be distributed, thecontent distribution server 34 places the utilization conditioninformation into the license.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, the contentdistribution server 34 transmits a distribution content and a license inseparate files, the content distribution server 34 may otherwisetransmit them in the same file. Further, while, in the foregoingdescription, the content distribution server 34 notifies, upondistribution of a content of the group management type, a contentprocessing apparatus 10 of a leaf ID and the content processingapparatus 10 produces a group ID based on the received leaf ID, theproduction of a group ID is not limited to the example described above.For example, the content distribution server 34 may produce a group IDbased on a leaf ID in advance and notify the content processingapparatus 10 of the produced group ID.

Now, the charging server is described. The charging server 38 performs acharging process in response to distribution of a content by the contentdistribution server 34 described hereinabove. The charging server 38includes, for example, a charging processing section 382 and a charginginformation database 384.

The charging information database 384 is a database including charginginformation for each user and stored in a storage apparatus (not shown)such as a HDD provided in the charging server 38.

The charging processing section 382 performs a charging process ofrequesting, for example, a user who receives distribution of a contentto pay an amount of money according to the content to be distributed.Accounting information such as an amount of money claimed, a settlingmethod and a settling date generated by the charging process is stored,for example, into the charging information database 384.

<6. Content Sharing Method>

Now, a basic flow of a content sharing method which makes use of such acontent sharing system 100 as described above is described withreference to FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a timing chart illustrating a basicflow of the content sharing method according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 13, a new user would first use the content processingapparatus (PC) 10-1 owned by the user itself to issue a userregistration request for the content sharing service utilizing acopyright management scheme of the group management type describedhereinabove to the WWW server 31 of the server 30 (S2). Consequently,the WWW server 31 performs a user authentication process of the user toapply a new leaf ID to the user and register the user (S4). It is to benoted that the user registration of the content sharing service mayserve also as user registration of the content distribution service.Further, the user registration process described above may be performedby the group management server 32 in place of the WWW server 31.

Then, the user would use the content processing apparatus (PC) 10-1 and10-2 owned by the user itself to issue a registration request of the twoindividual apparatus to the server 30 (S8, S12). Consequently, the groupmanagement server 32 group-registers the content processing apparatus10-1 and 10-2 into an apparatus group of the user in accordance withsuch a registration request of the apparatus as just mentioned andnotifies the content processing apparatus 10-1 and 10-2 of a leaf IDcorresponding to the user (S10, S14). The content processing apparatus10-1 and 10-2 convert the received leaf ID into a group ID and add thegroup ID into the source ID lists L of the content processing apparatus10-1 and 10-2 themselves. It is to be noted that such apparatus groupregistration of the content processing apparatus 10 as described aboveneed not be performed at the same time but may be performed at arbitrarytimings different from each other.

Then, the content processing apparatus 10-2 issues a group certificate Gwhich associates the group ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus 10-2 itself and a recorder ID with each other and transmitsthe group certificate G to the certificate management server 36 of theserver 30 (S16). Then, the certificate management server 36 distributesthe group certificate G of the content processing apparatus 10-2 to thecontent processing apparatus 10-1 (S18). It is to be noted that suchdistribution of the group certificate G as just described may beperformed from the content processing apparatus 10-2 directly to thecontent processing apparatus 10-1 without the intervention of thecertificate management server 36. Further, the group certificate G ofthe content processing apparatus 10-1 may be distributed to the contentprocessing apparatus 10-2 similarly.

After the content processing apparatus 10-1 acquires the groupcertificate G distributed in such a manner as described above, itperforms an updating process of the source ID list L owned by thecontent processing apparatus 10-1 itself (S20). In this list updatingprocess, where the content processing apparatus 10-1 and 10-2 areregistered in the same apparatus group upon the group registrationdescribed hereinabove, since both apparatus have the same group ID, thecontent processing apparatus 10-1 can add the recorder ID of the contentprocessing apparatus 10-2 included in the group certificate G to thesource ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10-1 itself. On theother hand, where the content processing apparatus 10-1 and 10-2 areregistered in different apparatus groups, since the two apparatus havedifferent group IDs from each other, the content processing apparatus10-1 cannot add the recorder ID included in the group certificate G tothe source ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10-1 itself.

In the following, a case is described wherein a content provided fromthe content processing apparatus 10-2 in such a situation as describedabove is acquired and shared by the content processing apparatus 10-1.

First, a case wherein a production content such as a ripped content isshared is described. The content processing apparatus 10-2 produces acontent by ripping, self recording or the like (S22) and applies arecorder ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10-2 tothe production content (S24). Then, the content processing apparatus10-2 provides the production content to which the recorder ID is appliedto the content processing apparatus 10-1 through the network 5, localline 9, storage medium 7 or the like (S26).

Then, the content processing apparatus 10-1 acquires the productioncontent (S28) and executes a reproduction control process of theproduction content, for example, in response to a reproduction requestof the user (S30). In this instance, if the recorder ID applied to theproduction content is included in the source ID list L of the contentprocessing apparatus 10-1, then the content processing apparatus 10-1can reproduce the production content, but if the recorder ID is notincluded in the source ID list L, then the content processing apparatus10-1 cannot reproduce the content.

Now, another case wherein distribution content data are shared isdescribed. First, the content processing apparatus 10-2 issues adistribution request of a content to the group management server 32(S32). Consequently, the group management server 32 distributes thecontent whose distribution is requested and a license including the leafID corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10-2 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10-2 (S34). Then, the content processing apparatus10-2 converts the leaf ID in the received license into a group ID andapplies the group ID to the distribution content (S36). Then, thecontent processing apparatus 10-2 provides the distribution contenthaving the group ID applied thereto to the content processing apparatus10-1 in a similar manner as described above (S38), and the contentprocessing apparatus 10-1 acquires the distribution content (S40). Then,the content processing apparatus 10-1 executes a reproduction controlprocess of the distribution content, for example, in response to areproduction request of the user (S42). In this instance, if the groupID applied to the distribution content is included in the source ID listL of the content processing apparatus 10-1, then the content processingapparatus 10-1 can reproduce the distribution content, but if the groupID is not included in the source ID list L, the content processingapparatus 10-1 cannot reproduce the distribution content.

Further, if the content processing apparatus 10-1 and 10-2 individuallyissue a registration cancellation request (S44, S48), then the groupmanagement server 32 cancels the group registrations of the contentprocessing apparatus 10-1 and 10-2 in response to the registrationcancellation requests (S46, S50).

In such a content sharing method in which the content sharing system 100is used as described above, if a plurality of content processingapparatus 10 owned by the same user are registered into the sameapparatus group, then a production content and a distribution contentcan be shared comparatively freely between the content processingapparatus 10.

<7. Group Registration-Cancellation Process>

Now, processes of group-registering/registration-canceling a contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 or a content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20into and in the group management server 32 are described in detail. Itis to be noted that the following processing flow is started in a statewherein user registration of the content sharing service into the groupmanagement server 32 is completed already and a leaf ID is not appliedto a user who owns a content processing apparatus 10.

First, a process (group registration process) of apparatus-registering acontent processing apparatus (PC) 10 into the group management server 32according to the present embodiment is described. FIG. 14 is a timingchart illustrating a group registration process of the contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 14, first at steps S60 to S70, a communicationconnection is established safely between the content processingapparatus 10 of a registration requesting source and the server 30through the network 5 and user authentication is performed. Theprocesses at steps S60 to S70 are performed between a browser of thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the WWW server 31 of the server 30.

In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 of the registrationrequesting source first transmits a user ID and a password to the WWWserver 31 in response to a user input (S60). Consequently, the WWWserver 31 collates the received user ID and password with a user ID anda password registered in the group registration database 324 to performa user authentication process (S62). If a result of this indicates thatthe user authentication results in failure, then the WWW server 31 doesnot permit the log-in and ends the registration process. On the otherhand, if the user authentication results in success, then the WWW server31 permits the log-in and transmits a notification that the userauthentication results in success and session information for performingsafe communication to the content processing apparatus 10 (S64). Then,the content processing apparatus 10 transmits a registration requestnotification to the WWW server 31 (S66). The WWW server 31 recognizesthat the content processing apparatus 10 accesses the WWW server 31 forregistration request based on the registration request notification.Then, the WWW server 31 produces a transaction ID (S68) and transmitsthe produced transaction ID and a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) whichis an example of address information of the group management server 32to the content processing apparatus 10 (S70). Consequently, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can thereafter access the group managementserver 32 referring to the received URL.

At next steps S72 to S86, processes for actually registering the contentprocessing apparatus 10 into the group management server 32 areperformed. The processes at steps S72 to S86 are performed between thecopyright management section of the content processing apparatus 10 andthe group management server 32 of the server 30.

In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 first issues arequest for service data to the group management server 32 (S72).Consequently, the group management server 32 transmits service data tothe content processing apparatus 10 (S74). The service data include aleaf ID corresponding to the authenticated user and a service common keydescribed hereinabove. Then, the content processing apparatus 10transmits the transaction ID received at step S70 described hereinaboveand the terminal ID and the recorder ID corresponding to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 itself to the group management server 32 toperform a registration request to the group management server 32 (S76).The terminal ID and the recorder ID are produced by the contentprocessing apparatus 10. It is to be noted that the informationtransferred at steps S74 and S76 can be transmitted and received safelybecause falsification thereof from the outside is prevented by thesession information described hereinabove.

Then, the group management server 32 decides whether or not registrationof the content processing apparatus 10 should be permitted (S78). Thisregistration permission/inhibition decision is performed, for example,based on an upper limit number of those content processing apparatus 10which can be registered in the same apparatus group (for example, anupper limit number of terminal IDs (for example, three terminal IDs), anupper limit number of recorder IDs (for example, 10 recorder IDs)). Moreparticularly, if, for example, three content processing apparatus 10having different terminal IDs from each other are registered already inthe apparatus group of the authenticated user, the group managementserver 32 inhibits registration of a new content processing apparatus10. Further, if, for example, 10 content processing apparatus 10 havingdifferent recorder IDs from each other have been registered in theapparatus group of the user (irrespective of whether or not 10 contentprocessing apparatus 10 remain registered), then the group managementserver 32 inhibits registration of a new content processing apparatus10.

If such a result of the registration permission/inhibition decision atstep S78 as described above indicates that the registration should notbe permitted, then the group management server 32 transmits an errornotification that the content processing apparatus 10 cannot beregistered. On the other hand, if the result of the registrationpermission/inhibition decision indicates permission of the registration,then the group management server 32 performs a registration process ofthe content processing apparatus 10 of the registration requestingsource described hereinabove (S80). In particular, the group managementserver 32 writes the terminal ID and the recorder ID received from thecontent processing apparatus 10 of the registration requesting sourcedescribed above into a record of the authenticated user of the groupregistration database 324 to register the content processing apparatus10. Further, the group management server 32 transmits a registrationcompletion notification to the registered content processing apparatus10 (S82).

Then, when the content processing apparatus 10 receives such aregistration completion notification as described above, it validatesthe service data received at step S74 described hereinabove (S84).Further, the content processing apparatus 10 produces a group ID (bothof a first group ID and a second group ID) based on the leaf ID in thevalidated service data and adds and stores the group ID to and into thesource ID list L (S86). Consequently, the content processing apparatus10 is enabled to reproduce a distribution content to which the group IDis applied and add a recorder ID of a group certificate G which includesthe group ID into the source ID list L of the content processingapparatus 10 itself.

After such a registration process of the content processing apparatus 10as described above, such a certificate issuance and distribution processas described below may be performed. In particular, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 first issues a group certificate G including thegroup ID and the recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus 10 itself and transmits the group certificate G to thecertificate management server 36 (S88). Consequently, the certificatemanagement server 36 stores the received group certificate G into thecertificate database 364 (S90). Consequently, when a different contentprocessing apparatus 10 is registered into the same apparatus group, thegroup certificate G can be distributed to share the recorder ID.

Furthermore, if one, two or more other content processing apparatus 10are registered already in the same apparatus group, then the certificatemanagement server 36 distributes the group certificates G of the otherregistered content processing apparatus 10 to the registered contentprocessing apparatus 10 (S92). Consequently, the registered contentprocessing apparatus 10 reads out the recorder IDs in the received groupcertificates G and adds the recorder IDs to the source ID list L of thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself (S94). Consequently, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can thereafter reproduce a ripped content rippedby any other content processing apparatus 10 which belongs to the sameapparatus group.

Now, a process (group registration cancellation process) of cancelingthe registration of a content processing apparatus (PC) 10 according tothe present embodiment from an apparatus group registered already isdescribed with reference to FIG. 15. FIG. 15 is a timing chartillustrating a group registration cancellation process of a contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 15, first at steps S100 to S110, a communicationconnection is established safely between the content processingapparatus 10 of a registration cancellation requesting source and theserver 30 through the network 5 and user authentication is performed.The processes at steps S100 to S110 are performed between the browser ofthe content processing apparatus 10 and the WWW server 31 of the server30. It is to be noted that, since the processes at such steps S100 toS110 mentioned above are substantially same as those at steps S60 to S70of the group registration process of the content processing apparatus 10described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 14 except that aregistration cancellation requesting notification is issued from thecontent processing apparatus 10 to the WWW server 31 at step S106,detailed description of them is omitted.

At next steps S112 to S120, processes for actually canceling theregistration of the content processing apparatus 10 are performed. Theprocesses at steps S112 to S120 are performed between the copyrightmanagement section of the content processing apparatus 10 and the groupmanagement server 32 of the server 30.

In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 invalidates servicedata acquired from the group management server 32 upon the groupregistration described hereinabove and held in the content processingapparatus 10 (S112). More particularly, the content processing apparatus10 deletes the group ID and the recorder ID included in the source IDlist L of the content processing apparatus 10 itself. Consequently, thecontent processing apparatus 10 is disabled to reproduce a content towhich any of the source IDs is applied.

Then, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits the transaction IDreceived at step S110 described hereinabove and the terminal ID and therecorder ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10 itselfto the group management server 32 to issue a registration cancellationrequest to the group management server 32 (S114). It is to be noted thatthe information transmitted at step S114 can be transmitted safelybecause falsification thereof from the outside is prevented with thesession information described hereinabove.

Then, when the registration cancellation request is received, the groupmanagement server 32 decides whether or not the registration of thecontent processing apparatus 10 can be canceled (S116). For example, ina case wherein the content processing apparatus 10 of the registrationcancellation requesting source is not registered as yet or theregistration cancellation request is illegal or in a like case, thegroup management server 32 does not permit the registrationcancellation.

If the registration cancellation is not permitted as a result of such aregistration permission/inhibition decision at step S116 as describedabove, then the group management server 32 transmits an errornotification that the registration cancellation in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is not permitted.

On the other hand, if the registration cancellation is permitted as aresult of the registration permission/inhibition decision at step S116,then the group management server 32 performs a registration cancellationprocess of the content processing apparatus 10 of the registrationcancellation requesting source (S118). In particular, the groupmanagement server 32 deletes the terminal ID of the content processingapparatus 10 of the registration cancellation source from the record ofthe authenticated user of the group registration database 324.Thereupon, the record ID of the content processing apparatus 10 of theregistration requesting source is left without being deleted from thegroup registration database 324. Consequently, when the ripped contentsharing service is provided, a disadvantage that an excessively greatnumber of content processing apparatus 10 having a ripping function areregistered and a ripped content becomes shared by the large number ofcontent processing apparatus 10 can be prevented.

Then, the group management server 32 transmits a registrationcancellation completion notification to the content processing apparatus10 whose registration has been canceled (S120).

As described above, in the registration cancellation process of thecontent processing apparatus 10, after service data are invalidatedfirst on the group management server 32 side (S112), the registrationcancellation process is performed on the group management server 32 side(S118). Consequently, as regards the content processing apparatus 10whose registration is cancelled by the group management server 32 side,service data held by the content processing apparatus 10 can beinvalidated with certainty to delete the group ID and so forth from thesource ID list L. Therefore, such a situation that, although theregistration of a content processing apparatus 10 is cancelled on thegroup management server 32, service data of the content processingapparatus 10 are not actually invalidated can be prevented.

The group registration process and the registration cancellation processof the content processing apparatus (PC) 10 are described above. It isto be noted that, in order to register a content processing apparatus 10registered already once again, the registration of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 must be cancelled once.

Now, a process (group registration process) of apparatus-registering acontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 into the group management server32 is described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is a timing chartillustrating a group registration process of the content reproductionapparatus (PD) 20 according to the present invention.

In order to group-register a content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20, thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 of the object of registration isconnected to a content processing apparatus (PC) 10, which isgroup-registered already, through the local line 9, and this contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 is used to group-register the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 into the group management server 32.

As shown in FIG. 16, first at steps S132 to S142, a communicationconnection is established safely between the content processingapparatus 10 of the registration requesting source connected to thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 of the registration object and theserver 30 to perform user authentication. The processes at steps S132 toS142 are performed between the browser of the content processingapparatus 10 and the WWW server 31 of the server 30. It is to be notedthat, since the processes at such steps S132 to S142 mentioned above aresubstantially same as those at steps S60 to S70 of the groupregistration process of the content processing apparatus 10 describedhereinabove with reference to FIG. 14 except that a registrationrequesting notification of the content reproduction apparatus 20 isissued from the content processing apparatus 10 to the WWW server 31 atstep S138, detailed description of them is omitted.

Then at steps S144 to S164, processes for actually registering thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 into the group management server 32using the content processing apparatus 10 are performed. The processesat steps S144 to S164 are executed among the content reproductionapparatus 20, the copyright management section of the content processingapparatus 10 and the group management server 32 of the server 30.

In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 first acquires thedevice ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the registrationobject from the content reproduction apparatus 20 through the local line9 (S144) Then, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits thetransaction ID received at step S142 described hereinabove, the terminalID of the content processing apparatus 10 itself and the recorder ID ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 to the group management server 32to issue a registration request of the content reproduction apparatus 20to the group management server 32 (S146). It is to be noted that theinformation transferred at step S144 can be transmitted and receivedsafely because falsification thereof from the outside is prevented withthe session information described hereinabove.

Then, when the group management server 32 receives the registrationrequest, it decides whether or not registration of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 of the registration object should be permitted(S148). In the present embodiment, since there is no restriction to theregistration number of content reproduction apparatus 20, theregistration is permitted unconditionally. However, the restriction isnot limited to that of the present example, but an upper limit numbermay be set to the registration number of content reproduction apparatus20. Further, if the content processing apparatus 10 of the registrationrequesting source is not registered as yet, then the group managementserver 32 does not permit the registration of the content reproductionapparatus 20 of the registration object.

If the registration permission/inhibition decision at step S148indicates a result that the registration should not be permitted, thenthe group management server 32 transmits an error notification to thecontent processing apparatus 10 that the registration is not permitted.

On the other hand, if the result of the registrationpermission/inhibition decision indicates that the registration should bepermitted, then the group management server 32 performs a registrationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the registrationobject (S150). In particular, the group management server 32 sets arecord of the authenticated user in the group registration database 324based on the terminal ID and so forth of the content processingapparatus 10 of the registration requesting source described hereinaboveand writes the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of theregistration object into the record just described. Further, the groupmanagement server 32 transmits a registration completion notification tothe content processing apparatus 10 of the registration requestingsource (S152).

Then, when the content processing apparatus 10 receives the registrationcompletion notification, it produces a group ID (both of a first groupID and a second group ID) based on the leaf ID included in the servicedata acquired upon registration of the content processing apparatus 10itself (S154).

Then, the content processing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list Land the ICV data of the registered content reproduction apparatus 20from the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S156).

Furthermore, the content processing apparatus 10 checks the validity ofthe source ID list L based on the ICV data acquired at S156 (S158). Asdescribed hereinabove, in the copyright management scheme of the groupmanagement type, since ICV data includes a MAC value which is a hashvalue of the source ID list L, the content processing apparatus 10 candetermine the MAC value of the source ID list L acquired from thecontent processing apparatus 10 and collate the MAC value with the MACvalue of the ICV data to detect whether or not the source ID list L isin a falsified condition.

If it is decided as a result of the check of the validity at S158 thatthe source ID list L is not valid (is falsified), then an error isdecided and updating of the source ID list L is not performed.

On the other hand, if it is decided as a result of the check of thevalidity at S158 that the source ID list L is valid, then the contentprocessing apparatus 10 updates the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S160). In particular, the content processingapparatus 10 adds the group ID produced at S154 described hereinabove tothe source ID list L acquired from the content reproduction apparatus20. Thereupon, the recorder ID included in the source ID list L of thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself may be further added to thesource ID list L acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20.

Furthermore, the content processing apparatus 10 updates the ICV data ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 (S162). In particular, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 determines the MAC value of the source ID list Lof the content reproduction apparatus 20 updated at S160 describedhereinabove to produce ICV data newly.

Thereafter, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits the source IDlist L updated at S160 and the ICV data updated at S162 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20 so as to be written into the storage sectionof the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S164). It is to be noted that,at S156 and S164, the ICV data are transmitted and received between thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus20 so as not to be falsified using the session information.

Since the group ID is added to the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 through such a group registration process ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 as described above, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 itself can thereafter reproduce a distributioncontent to which the group ID is applied.

Now, a process (group registration cancellation process) of canceling aregistration of a content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according tothe present embodiment from an apparatus group registered already isdescribed with reference to FIG. 17. FIG. 17 is a timing chartillustrating a group registration cancellation process of a contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according to the present embodiment.

Also such a group registration cancellation process of a contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 as just mentioned is performed by locallyconnecting the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 to a contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 such that the content processing apparatus(PC) 10 issues a registration cancellation request to the server 30similarly as in the group registration process of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 described hereinabove.

As shown in FIG. 17, first at steps S170 to S180, a communicationconnection is established safely between the content processingapparatus 10 of the registration requesting source and the server 30through the network 5 to perform user authentication. The processes atS170 to S180 are performed between the browser of the content processingapparatus 10 and the WWW server 31 of the server 30. It is to be notedthat such processes at S170 to S180 are substantially similar to thoseat steps S60 to S70 of the content processing apparatus 10 describedhereinabove with reference to FIG. 14 except that a registrationcancellation requesting notification of the content reproductionapparatus 20 is issued from the content processing apparatus 10 to theWWW server 31, and therefore, detailed description of the same isomitted.

At next steps S182 to S198, processes for actually canceling theregistration of the content processing apparatus 10 are performed. Theprocesses at S182 to S198 are performed between the copyright managementsection of the content processing apparatus 10 of the registrationcancellation requesting source and the group management server 32 of theserver 30.

In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 first acquires thesource ID list L and the ICV data of the content reproduction apparatus20 of the registration cancellation object from the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S182).

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 checks the validity of theacquired source ID list L based on the ICV data acquired at S182 in asimilar manner as at S158 described hereinabove (S184). If it is decidedas a result of the check of the validity at S184 that the source ID listL is not valid (is falsified), then an error is decided and updating ofthe source ID list L is not performed.

On the other hand, if it is decided as a result of the check of thevalidity at S184 that the source ID list L is valid, then the contentprocessing apparatus 10 updates the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S186). In particular, the content processingapparatus 10 deletes the group ID from the source ID list L acquiredfrom the content reproduction apparatus 20. Thereupon, the recorder IDincluded in the source ID list L may be deleted further. By this, thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is disabled from reproducing a contentto which the source ID is applied.

Furthermore, the content processing apparatus 10 updates the ICV data ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 (Sl88). In particular, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 determines the MAC value of the source ID list Lof the content reproduction apparatus 20 updated at S186 to produce newICV data.

Thereafter, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits the source IDlist L updated at S186 and the ICV data updated at S188 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20 so as to be written into the storage sectionof the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S190).

Then, the content processing apparatus 10 issues a registrationcancellation request of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of theregistration cancellation object to the group management server 32(S192). In particular, the content processing apparatus 10 transmits thetransaction ID received at S180 described hereinabove, the terminal IDcorresponding to the content processing apparatus 10 itself and thedevice ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the registrationcancellation object to the group management server 32 to issue aregistration cancellation request. It is to be noted that theinformation transmitted at S192 can be transmitted safely becausefalsification thereof from the outside is prevented with the sessioninformation described hereinabove.

Thereafter, when the group management server 32 receives theregistration cancellation request, it decides whether or not theregistration of the content reproduction apparatus 20 should be canceled(S194). For example, if the registration cancellation request isillegal, then the group management server 32 does not permitcancellation of the registration.

If the registration cancellation should not be permitted as a result ofsuch a registration permission/inhibition decision at S194 as describedabove, then the group management server 32 transmits an errornotification that the registration cancellation of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is not permitted.

On the other hand, if the registration cancellation should be permittedas a result of the registration permission/inhibition decision at S194,then the group management server 32 performs a registration cancellationprocess of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the registrationcancellation object (S 196). In particular, the group management server32 specifies a record of the authenticated user in the groupregistration database 324 based on the terminal ID and so forth of thecontent processing apparatus 10 of the registration requesting sourceand deletes the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 ofthe registration calculation object from the record.

Thereafter, the group management server 32 transmits a registrationcancellation completion notification to the content processing apparatus10 of the registration cancellation requesting source (S198).

As described above, in the registration cancellation process of thecontent reproduction apparatus 20, after the group ID is deleted (S186)from the source ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 onthe content processing apparatus 10 side first, the registrationcancellation process (S196) is performed on the group management server32 side. Consequently, as regards the content reproduction apparatus 20whose registration is canceled by the group management server 32 side,the group ID can be deleted with certainty from the source ID list L ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20. Therefore, such a situation that,although the registration is cancelled on the group management server32, the group ID remains in the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 can be prevented.

The basic flows of the group registration process and the groupregistration cancellation process of the content processing apparatus(PC) 10 and the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 are describedabove. By such processes as just mentioned, even when the owner of thesame content processing apparatus 10 or content reproduction apparatus20 changes, a group change of the content processing apparatus 10 can beperformed by performing registration cancellation and re-registration.

It is to be noted that, even if registration of a new group or changingof a group of a content processing apparatus 10 which has a rippingfunction is performed, the recorder ID of the content processingapparatus 10 does not vary. Therefore, a content ripped by the contentprocessing apparatus 10 before the new group registration or the groupchange can be reproduced freely by any apparatus of the apparatus groupto which the content processing apparatus 10 belongs also after the newgroup registration or the group change. Consequently, the convenience tothe user of the content processing apparatus 10 having a rippingfunction is enhanced and the purchase merit rises.

<8. Reproduction Control Process of the Group Management Type>

Now, a content reproduction control process of the group management typeby a content processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodimentis described with reference to FIG. 18. FIG. 18 is a flow chartillustrating a content reproduction control process of the groupmanagement type by a content processing apparatus 10 according to thepresent embodiment. It is to be noted that the reproduction controlprocess of the group management type is a process of controllingreproduction of a content based on a source ID applied to a content anda source ID list L.

As shown in FIG. 18, first at step S202, a reproduction request isissued, for example, by the user (step S202; reproduction requestingstep). The user would operate the inputting apparatus 108 of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to select a desired content and issue aninstruction to the content reproduction section 170 to reproduce theselected content.

Then at step S204, the source ID applied to the content is read out(step S204). The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172of the content reproduction section 170 first reads out the content ofthe reproduction requesting object from the content database 116,storage medium 7 or the like and then reads out and interprets thesource ID included in a license applied to the content.

Further at step S206, it is decided whether or not the source ID readout from the content described above is included in the source ID list Lof the content processing apparatus 10 (step S206). In particular, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 of the contentreproduction section 170 reads out the source ID list L, for example,from the storage apparatus 111 and interprets the source ID list L.Then, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172compares the source ID read out from the content described above and thesource IDs included in the source ID list L with each other to decidewhether or not the source ID read out from the content described aboveis included in the source ID list L.

If a result of the decision reveals that the source ID read out from thecontent is included in the source ID list L, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 permits reproduction of thecontent, whereafter the processing advances to step S208. On the otherhand, if the source ID read out from the content is not included in thesource ID list L, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 does not permit reproduction of the content, and thereproduction control process is ended.

Further, at step S208, the present time is acquired (step S208). Thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires thepresent time from a clock apparatus (not shown) built in the contentprocessing apparatus 10.

Thereafter, at step S210, it is decided whether or not the present timeacquired as described above is within a term of validity of the sourceID read out from the content described hereinabove (step S210). Inparticular, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172first reads out validity term information corresponding to the source IDread out from the content described hereinabove from the source ID listL. The validity term information corresponding to the source ID read outfrom the content described hereinabove is recorded in an associatedrelationship with the source ID, for example, in the source ID list L.

Then, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172decides whether or not the acquired present time described above exceedsthe term of validity of the source ID described above. If a result ofthe decision reveals that the present time exceeds the term of validityof the source ID described above, then the term of the source ID has runout. Therefore, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section172 does not permit reproduction of the content described above but endsthe reproduction control process.

On the other hand, if the present time is within the term of validity ofthe source ID described above, the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 permits reproduction of the content, whereafter theprocessing advances to step S212. As a result, at step S212, thereproduction execution section 174 reproduces the content (step S212).

As described above, the content reproduction control process of thegroup management type according to the present embodiment is executedbased on the source ID in the source ID list L applied to the contentand the validity term information of the source ID. According to suchreproduction control as just described, it is possible to set a term ofvalidity of reproduction of a content in a unit of a source ID topermit/inhibit reproduction of the content. It is to be noted that thevalidity of term of the source ID need not necessarily be set.

<9. Updating Process of a Source ID List of the Group Management Type>

Now, an updating process of the source ID list L by a content processingapparatus (PC) 10 according to the present embodiment is described withreference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an updatingprocess of the source ID list L by a content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment. The present list updating processis an example wherein the content processing apparatus 10 acquires adistributed group certificate G and updates the source ID list L of thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself or the source ID list L of acontent reproduction apparatus 20 locally connected to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 based on the acquired group certificate G.

As shown in FIG. 19, first at step S220, the content processingapparatus 10 acquires a group certificate G distributed from a differentcontent processing apparatus 10 or the certificate management server 36(step S220). The content processing apparatus 10 can acquire a groupcertificate G by receiving the group certificate G through the network 5or the local line 9 or by reading out the group certificate G recordedon the storage medium 7.

Then at step S222, the content processing apparatus 10 decides whetheror not the acquired group certificate G is within a term of validity(step S222). In particular, the list management section 140 of thecontent processing apparatus 10 first reads out validity terminformation included in the group certificate G and acquires presenttime information from the clock apparatus built in the contentprocessing apparatus 10. Then, the list management section 140 decideswhether or not the present time is within the term of validity of thegroup certificate G. If a result of the decision proves that the groupcertificate G is within the term of validity, then the processingadvances to S224. On the other hand, if the group certificate G is nolonger valid, then updating of the list is rejected and the listupdating process is ended.

Further, at step S224, the list management section 140 reads out thegroup ID included in the acquired group certificate G (step S224).

Thereafter, at step S226, the list management section 140 reads out thegroup ID possessed by the content processing apparatus 10 itself (stepS226). In the present embodiment, since each content processingapparatus 10 retains a group ID in the source ID list L thereof, thelist management section 140 reads out the group ID corresponding to thecontent processing apparatus 10 from the source ID list L.

Then at step S228, the list management section 140 decides whether ornot the group ID read out from the acquired group certificate G and thegroup ID corresponding to the content processing apparatus 10 itselfcoincide with each other (step S228). If a result of the decision provesthat the two group IDs coincide with each other, then the updating ofthe list is permitted, and the processing advances to step S230. On theother hand, if the two group IDs are different from each other, then theupdating of the list is rejected, and the list updating process isended.

Further at step S230, the list management section 140 adds the recorderID included in the group certificate G to the source ID list L (stepS230). In particular, the list management section 140 reads out therecorder ID from the acquired group certificate G and writes therecorder ID into the source ID list L. Consequently, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can thereafter reproduce a ripped content towhich the recorder ID is applied. The updating process of the source IDlist L based on the group certificate G is ended thereby.

The basic configuration of the content sharing system 100 and thecontent sharing method which utilizes the content sharing system 100according to the present embodiment is described above. According to thecontent sharing system 100, copyright management of the group managementmethod and the copyright management system of the check-in check-outtype complying with the SDMI can be implemented.

Where the copyright management of the group management type from betweenthe two copyright management systems described above is to be performedby the content sharing system 100, contents shared between a pluralityof apparatus are managed in a unit of a content providing source (in aunit of a user or a unit of an apparatus of a providing source) andreproduction of a content by a content processing apparatus 10 isrestricted in response to the content providing source to performcopyright management of the content. In other words, sharing of acontent between apparatus can be permitted/inhibited in a unit of acontent providing source.

Therefore, where the content providing source is an illegal contentproviding source, the content processing apparatus 10 of the contentacquiring side can collectively inhibit reproduction of all of contentsacquired from the illegal content providing source. Accordingly, suchillegal acts as an act of distributing a large amount of ripped contentsto many and unspecific users and an act of laying a distribution contentopen on the Internet so that it can be downloaded can be preventedeffectively.

On the other hand, where the content providing source is a legal contentproviding source, if the source ID of the content providing source isadded to the source ID list L once to permit sharing of contents, thenalso another content can later be reproduced freely only if the contentis provided from the content providing source by which the sharing hasbeen permitted. Therefore, a content can be copied freely between aplurality of apparatus within a range of private use. Consequently,copyright management proximate to that of a conventional distributionsystem of analog contents by which unrestricted copying is acknowledgedonly within private utilization can be implemented.

Consequently, the content sharing system 100 according to the embodimentdescribed above can achieve both of (1) a copyright management functionof restricting an act of illegally utilizing a content without paying areasonable consideration for a content distribution service and so forthand (2) enhancement of the degree of freedom in content utilizationwithin a range of private utilization with a reasonable considerationpaid.

Further, in such a copyright management process of the group managementtype as described above, only it is necessary in principle to perform aprocess of adding a source ID of a source ID list L only once uponregistration of a content distribution service or a ripped contentsharing service or in a like case. Accordingly, enhancement inefficiency of a copyright management process can be achieved whencompared with an alternative case wherein a copyright management processis executed every time copying (check-in/check-out) of a content isperformed as in the case of a copyright management process of theconventional check-in check-out type.

Furthermore, where different apparatus are group-registered into a groupin a unit of an owner (user) of content processing apparatus 10 orcontent reproduction apparatus 20, a content can be copied and utilizedfreely between those apparatus which are registered in the sameapparatus group. Therefore, a legal user which performs private use cancopy a content freely between apparatus owned by the user itself, andsince there is no necessity for the user to be conscious of a copyingsource or the number of times of copying of a content, the user is lesslikely to feel the presence of the copyright management system.Accordingly, within a range of private use, the degree of freedom incontent utilization by a user and the convenience can be further raisedand user-friendly copyright management can be executed.

<10. Local Registration>

Here, local registration of the copyright management system of the groupmanagement type according to the present embodiment is described indetail with reference to FIGS. 20A to 20C. FIGS. 20A to 20C areexplanatory views illustrating a schematic configuration of localregistration according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 20A to 20C, as a premise of the local registration, itis possible to record only one recorder ID into the source ID list L ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20. In other words, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 can specify only one content processingapparatus 10 and can reproduce content data (or a content), for example,ripped by the content processing apparatus 10.

If a content processing apparatus 10 whose recorder ID is “recorder ID1” and the content reproduction apparatus 20 are connected to each otherthrough the local line 9 (cable) by an interface such as a USB interfaceas shown in FIG. 20A, then the recorder ID 1 is added to the source IDlist L of the content reproduction apparatus 20. In short, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 can be locally registered into the contentprocessing apparatus 10 of the recorder ID 1.

It is to be noted that, although a series of processes of the localregistration according to the present embodiment are hereinafterdescribed, since only one recorder ID can be recorded into the contentreproduction apparatus 20 as described above, if some other recorder IDis registered already, or if content data relating to some otherrecorder ID are stored already in the content reproduction apparatus 20or in a like case, the content reproduction apparatus 20 cannot beregistered locally.

If the recorder ID 1 is described in the source ID list L possessed bythe content reproduction apparatus 20 as shown in FIG. 20A, then thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 can reproduce content data recordedthrough ripping or the like by the content processing apparatus 10 ofthe recorder ID 1. It is to be noted that the recorder ID 1 is appliedto content data recorded by ripping or the like by the contentprocessing apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 20A.

Thereafter, if it is tried to connect, in a state wherein the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is locally registered in a content processingapparatus 10 of the recorder ID 1, the content reproduction apparatus 20and another content processing apparatus 10 of the recorder ID 2 via alocal line 9 as shown in FIG. 20B to acquire and reproduce content dataof the recorder ID 2, then since the recorder ID registered in thesource ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is therecorder ID 1, the content data of the recorder ID 2 cannot bereproduced.

Further, even if it is tried to register the recorder ID 2 into thesource ID list L, since the recorder ID 1 is registered already, therecorder ID 2 cannot be described in the source ID list L possessed bythe content reproduction apparatus 20 and cannot be locally recordedinto the content processing apparatus 10 b either.

In order for the content reproduction apparatus 20 to reproduce thecontent data of the recorder ID 2, it is necessary to delete therecorder ID 1 described already in the source ID list L and delete thecontent data of the recorder ID 1. In short, it is necessary to cancelthe local registration of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

The cancellation of the local registration is to delete the recorder IDdescribed in the source ID list L possessed by the content reproductionapparatus 20. The deletion of the recorder ID can be performed not onlyfrom the content processing apparatus 10 to which the recorder ID isadded but also from any content processing apparatus 10 by connectingthe same to the content reproduction apparatus 20 by the local line 9.

Further, the deletion of the recorder ID described above may beperformed also in a case wherein an initialization process of deletingall data including the source ID list L is performed for the recordingsection such as a HDD of the content reproduction apparatus 20, and ifthe recorder ID is deleted, then the local registration can be canceled.

If the recorder ID 1 is deleted from the source ID list L and thecontent data of the recorder ID 1 are deleted, then the contentprocessing apparatus 10 of the recorder ID 2 can add the recorder ID 2of the content processing apparatus 10 itself to the source ID list L ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20. In short, the content processingapparatus 10 b can be locally registered.

It is to be noted that, while a case wherein the content reproductionapparatus 20 locally registered already is to be locally registered intoanother content processing apparatus 10 is described taking a casewherein it is necessary to delete the recorder ID possessed by thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 and the content data to which therecorder ID is applied as described above as an example, the casedescribed above is not limited to this example. For example, such aconfiguration may be used that to delete only the recorder ID possessedby the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the source ID list L isused as cancellation of the local registration to permit localregistration into another content processing apparatus 10.

If the recorder ID 1 described in the source ID list L possessed by thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is deleted and the recorder ID 2 isregistered as shown in FIG. 20C, then the content reproduction apparatus20 can acquire content data to which the recorder ID 2 possessed by thecontent processing apparatus 10 b of the recorder ID 2 is applied andreproduce the content data of the recorder ID 2.

Next, FIGS. 21A to 21C are explanatory views showing a generalconfiguration of a source ID list in local registration or serviceregistration according to the embodiment.

Now, the source ID list L possessed by the content processing apparatus10 or the content reproduction apparatus 20 when the group registrationor the local registration described hereinabove is performed isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 21A to 21C.

It is assumed that, as shown in FIG. 21A, the content processingapparatus 10 a of the recorder ID 1, the content processing apparatus 10b of the recorder ID 2 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 locallyregistered already exist. It is to be noted that the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is locally registered in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 a of the recorder ID 1 and possesses contentdata of the recorder ID 1.

Then, if the content processing apparatus 10 a of the recorder ID 1performs service registration (or, which is sometimes referred to asgroup registration) of the group IDA as shown in FIG. 21B, then thegroup IDA is added to the source ID list L possessed by the contentprocessing apparatus 10 b of the recorder ID 1. It is to be noted thatthe recorder ID 1 is described already since it is the recorder ID ofthe content processing apparatus 10 itself.

Similarly, also with regard to the content processing apparatus 10 b ofthe recorder ID 2, if service registration of the group IDA isperformed, then the group IDA is described into the source ID list L ofthe content processing apparatus 10 b of the recorder ID 2.

Furthermore, it is possible to form one group from apparatus having thesame group ID and group-resistor the apparatus, and the recorders ID ofthe apparatus which have the same group ID are added to the source IDlist L.

As shown in FIG. 21B, the recorder ID of the content processingapparatus 10 of the recorder ID 1 to which the same group IDA is addedis added to the source ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10b of the recorder ID 2, and the recorder ID 2 is added also to thesource ID list of the content processing apparatus 10 a of the recorderID 1.

It is to be noted that, as a timing at which the content processingapparatus 10 adds the recorder ID to the source ID list L as shown inFIG. 21B, for example, a timing at which a group certificate Gtransmitted from the group management server 32 is received when thecontent processing apparatus 10 accesses the group management server 32or a like timing can be listed. However, the timing is not limited tothe example just described. Further, by receiving the group certificateG described above, the content processing apparatus 10 can add allrecorder IDs belonging to the group ID including the newly addedrecorder ID to the source ID list L.

The access is a general term of information processing of processinginformation through a communication network (network 5) such asutilization of the system, connection to a server, referring to a file,storage of a file, deletion of a file, alteration of a file and soforth.

Then, if, in addition to the content processing apparatus 10 a which isservice-registered already in the group IDA, the content reproductionapparatus 20 which is locally registered in the content processingapparatus 10 a of the recorder ID 1 is service-registered into the groupof the group IDA, then the group IDA is registered into the source IDlist L possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20, and also therecorder ID 2 is added.

Accordingly, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 isservice-registered with the group IDA, then the content reproductionapparatus 20 can reproduce content data recorded by ripping or the likeby the content processing apparatus 10 a and 10 b of the recorder ID 1and the recorder ID 2.

It is to be noted that, although the group IDA is added to the source IDlist L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 by service-registrationof the content reproduction apparatus 20, the timing at which therecorder ID such as the recorder ID 2 belonging to the group IDA isadded to the source ID list L may be, for example, a case wherein thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is connected to the content processingapparatus 10 b of the recorder ID 2 or a like case. However, the timingis not limited to the example just described.

Now, components provided in the group registration section of thecontent processing apparatus 10 are described with reference to FIG. 22.FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a general configuration of the groupregistration section of the content processing apparatus 10 according tothe present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 22, the group registration section in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 includes an acquisition section 401, a detectionsection 403, a recorder ID addition section 405, a registration requestinformation transmission section 407, a registration completionreception section 409, a notice section 411, and a group ID additionsection 413.

The acquisition section 401 acquires the source ID list L (second sourceID list) possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20 of theconnection destination. It is to be noted that the acquired source IDlist L is ICV-calculated to determine a MAC value, and the MAC value iscollated with the MAC value included in falsification detecting dataacquired separately to confirm that the source ID list L is not in afalsified state. The falsification detecting data are produced based onthe source ID list L.

The detection section 403 detects whether or not the contentreproduction apparatus 20 whose source ID list L is acquired by theacquisition section 401 is service-registered and further detectswhether or not the recorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10(self content processing apparatus 10) of the source of the acquisitionis described in the source ID list L of the content reproductionapparatus 20 acquired by the acquisition section 401. The self contentprocessing apparatus 10 has a same meaning as the content processingapparatus 10 itself or the like.

The recorder ID addition section 405 adds the recorder ID of the selfcontent processing apparatus 10 to the source ID list L acquired by theacquisition section 401 and stores the source ID list L after theaddition to the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the source of theacquisition of the source ID list L into the storage apparatus or thelike.

As a condition for the addition of the recorder ID to the source ID listL by the recorder ID addition section 405, it can be listed as anexample that it is detected by the detection section 403 that a contentreproduction apparatus 20 of the acquisition destination of the sourceID list L is not service-registered and any other recorder ID than therecorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10 itself (self contentprocessing apparatus 10) of the acquisition source is described in thesource ID list L as hereinafter described.

It is to be noted that, while the recorder ID addition section 405 isdescribed above taking a case wherein the recorder ID is added to thesource ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 as an example,the addition is not limited to such an example as just described, but,for example, the recorder ID addition section 405 may add the recorderID to the source ID list L possessed by the content processing apparatus10 or the like.

If the registration request information transmission section 407 acceptsa request or the like to service-register a content processing apparatus10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20 as a result of an operation ofthe inputting section such as the mouse by the user, then theregistration request information transmission section 407 transmitsregistration request information to the transmission section. It is tobe noted that the transmitted registration request information istransmitted to the group management server 32 through the transmissionsection via the network.

The registration completion reception section 409 receives, through thenetwork, registration completion information which is a notification ofcompletion of registration from the group management server 32 to whichthe registration request information is transmitted. It is to be notedthat, if the service registration process of the content reproductionapparatus 20 or the content processing apparatus 10 does not endnormally, then not registration completion information but registrationerror information or the like is transmitted from the group managementserver 32.

The notice section 411 displays a notification or the like forrecommending service registration on the display screen of the contentprocessing apparatus 10. Further, the notice section 411 displays, onthe display screen of the content processing apparatus 10, anotification or the like for recommendation to erase (initialize)content data of the recorder ID which is stored in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 but does not correspond to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. It is to be noted that the present inventioncan be carried out not only in a case wherein a notification isdisplayed on the display screen of the content processing apparatus 10but also in another case wherein a notification for recommendation toperform service-registration or the like is displayed on the displayscreen of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

If the registration completion reception section 409 receivesregistration completion information, then the group ID addition section413 adds the group ID described in the source ID list L possessed by thecontent processing apparatus 10 to the source ID list L possessed by thecontent reproduction apparatus 20. Thereupon, the group ID additionsection 413 adds the group ID to the source ID list L acquired by theacquisition section 401.

Further, the present invention can be carried out also in a case whereinthe group ID updating section 149 described hereinabove with referenceto FIG. 8 has functions substantially same as the functions of the groupID addition section 413 described hereinabove or in a like case, and thegroup ID updating section 149 may add the group ID to the source ID listL or the like.

Now, a series of registration processes including an automatic localregistration process for the content reproduction apparatus 20 accordingto the present embodiment are described with reference to FIGS. 23 to25.

First, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 is connected to thecontent processing apparatus 10 by a cable (local line 9) (S301) asshown in FIG. 23, then the acquisition section 401 provided in thecontent processing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L possessedby the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the connection destinationof the cable (local line 9).

After the acquisition section 401 acquires the source ID list L, thedetection section 403 detects based on the source ID list L whether ornot the content reproduction apparatus 20 of the destination of theacquisition is registered in some registration (S302). For example, thedetection section 403 detects whether the group ID is described in thesource ID list L possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20,whether the recorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10 (selfcontent processing apparatus 10) of the source of the acquisition isdescribed, or the like.

For example, if a group ID is described in the source ID list L, thenthe detection section 403 detects that the content reproductionapparatus 20 is service-registered (or group-registered) already. If therecorder ID is described in the source ID list L, then the detectionsection 403 detects that the content reproduction apparatus 20 islocally registered already.

If, as a result of the detection, the content reproduction apparatus 20is registered in some registration such as local registration or serviceregistration (S302), then the detection section 403 subsequently detectswhether or not the content reproduction apparatus 20 is locallyregistered already (S303). If a result of the detection indicates thatthe content reproduction apparatus 20 is not locally registered, thenthe detection section 403 subsequently detects whether or not thecontent processing apparatus 10 is service-registered (S304). It is tobe noted that whether or not the content processing apparatus 10 isservice-registered can be decided based on whether or not the group IDis described in the source ID list L (first source ID list) possessed bythe content processing apparatus 10.

If a result of the detection by the detection section 403 reveals thatthe content processing apparatus 10 is not service-registered as yet(S304), that is, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected bythe cable (local line 9) is not locally recorded as yet and the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is not service-registered as yet, then thenotice section 411 produces service registration recommendationinformation for urging the group management server 32 to perform serviceregistration and causes the content processing apparatus 10 to displaythe service registration recommendation information on the displayscreen (S305).

Thereafter, if the user visually observes the service registrationrecommendation information by the notice section 411 through the displayscreen and performs service registration of the content processingapparatus 10 (S305), then a registration screen for service registrationis displayed on the display screen (S306).

If the user operates the inputting section such as the mouse inaccordance with the registration screen displayed on the screen and theregistration request information transmission section 407 accepts aninstruction of service registration, then the registration requestinformation transmission section 407 transmits registration requestinformation to the group management server 32.

The content processing apparatus 10 receives registration completioninformation (registration completion information) representative ofcompletion of service registration from the group management server 32and produces a group ID based on the leaf ID, and the group ID additionsection 413 adds the group ID to the source ID list L of the contentprocessing apparatus 10, thereby completing the service registration(S307). It is to be noted that, together with the addition of the groupID, also recorder IDs belonging to the group ID are added to the sourceID list L of the content processing apparatus 10.

On the other hand, when service registration of the content reproductionapparatus 20 is not to be performed (S305), such a warning screen asshown in FIG. 26 is displayed on the display screen of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 (S308). By displaying the warning screen shownin FIG. 26, it is possible to let the user recognize that the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is not registered correctly.

On the other hand, where the content processing apparatus 10 isservice-registered already (S304), for example, if the detection section403 detects that the group ID registered in the source ID list L of thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the group ID registered in thesource ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 are same aseach other (S309), then the content processing apparatus 10 can transfercontent data to which the group ID stored in the content processingapparatus 10 is applied to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S310).

If the group IDs described in the source ID lists L possessed by thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus20 are not same as each other (S309), then the warning screen shown inFIG. 26 is displayed on the screen as described hereinabove (S311). As aresult, for example, the content processing apparatus 10 cannot transfercontent data transferred thereto from the content distribution server 34to the content reproduction apparatus 20.

Then, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 is not registered at allat step S302, then if service registration recommendation information bythe notice section 411 is visually observed by the user through thedisplay screen of the content processing apparatus 10 and the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is to be service-registered (S312), then thedetection section 403 detects the registration situation of whether ornot the content processing apparatus 10 connected by the cable (localline 9) (S313) is service-registered.

If a result of the detection by the detection section 403 proves thatthe content processing apparatus 10 is service-registered (S313), thenthe registration screen for service registration of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is displayed on the display screen of thecontent processing apparatus 10 (S314).

Thereafter, if the user operates the inputting section such as the mousein accordance with the registration screen displayed on the screen andthe registration request information transmission section 407 accepts aninstruction for service registration to the content reproductionapparatus 20, then the registration request information transmissionsection 407 transmits registration request information to the groupmanagement server 32.

As the content processing apparatus 10 receives registration completioninformation (registration completion information) representative ofcompletion of the service registration of the content reproductionapparatus 20 from the group management server 32, the group ID additionsection 413 adds the group ID of the group to which the contentprocessing apparatus 10 belongs to the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20, thereby completing the service registration(S315). It is to be noted that, together with the addition of the groupID, also recorder IDs belonging to the group ID are added to the sourceID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

After the service registration of the content reproduction apparatus 20is completed (S315), the content processing apparatus 10 can transfercontent data to which the group ID same as that stored in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is applied, to the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S316).

On the other hand, if the result of the detection by the detectionsection 403 proves that the content processing apparatus 10 is notservice-registered (S317), then a registration screen forservice-registering the content reproduction apparatus 20 and thecontent processing apparatus 10 is displayed on the display screen ofthe content processing apparatus 10 (S318).

If the user operates the inputting section such as the mouse inaccordance with the registration screen displayed on the screen and theregistration request information transmission section 407 accepts aninstruction for service registration, then the registration requestinformation transmission section 407 transmits registration requestinformation to the group management server 32.

It is to be noted that, although service registration of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 and the content processing apparatus 10 isperformed at S318, the service registration may be performed in a casewherein each of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the contentprocessing apparatus 10 accepts an input of, for example, a user ID, apassword or the like to produce registration request information or inanother case wherein, when service registration of each of suchapparatus is to be performed, where an input of common information suchas a user ID or a password is accepted, if information of one of them isaccepted, then registration request information is producedautomatically, or in a like case. In the latter case, simplification ofthe information inputting process by a user or reduction in productiontime of registration request information can be achieved.

The content processing apparatus 10 receives registration completioninformation (registration completion information) representative ofcompletion of the service registration of the content processingapparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the groupmanagement server 32 and produces a group ID based on the leaf ID, andthe group ID addition section 413 adds the group ID to the source IDlists L of the content processing apparatus 10 and the contentreproduction apparatus 20, thereby completing the service registration(S318). It is to be noted that, together with the addition of the groupID, also recorder IDs which belong to the group ID are added to thesource ID lists L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and thecontent processing apparatus 10.

After the service registration of the content processing apparatus 10and the content reproduction apparatus 20 is completed (S318), contentdata to which the group ID same as the group ID added to the source IDlist L possessed by the content processing apparatus 10 from amongcontents data stored in the content processing apparatus 10 can betransferred to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S319).

Furthermore, if the service registration recommendation informationproduced by the notice section 411 is displayed on the display screenand the user who visually observes the service registrationrecommendation information does not perform service registration of thecontent processing apparatus 10 (S312), that is, if the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is not registered at all and no serviceregistration is to be performed, then the recorder ID addition section405 of the content processing apparatus 10 adds the recorder ID of thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself to the source ID list L of thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 and produces falsification detectingdata including a MAC value determined by ICV calculation from theupdated source ID list L. Further, the recorder ID addition section 405of the content processing apparatus 10 stores the source ID list L afterthe addition and the falsification detecting data into the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S320).

After the local registration is completed (S320), content data (rippedcontent data) to which the recorder ID is applied from among thecontents data held by the content processing apparatus 10 can betransferred to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S321).

Accordingly, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 is not registeredat all, then the content processing apparatus 10 locally registers thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 automatically. By such localregistration, the content reproduction apparatus 20 can acquire contentdata held by the content processing apparatus 10 and reproduce thecontent data even if the content reproduction apparatus 20 does not havea function of communicating with a network such as the Internet. It isto be noted that, for example, unless service registration is performed,content data distributed from the content distribution server 34 cannotbe reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus 20.

Thereafter, it is decided whether or not some registration of thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is performed as shown in FIG. 23(S302) and the content reproduction apparatus 20 is locally registered(S303) and besides the content processing apparatus 10 locallyregistered in the content reproduction apparatus 20 is the contentprocessing apparatus 10 actually connected by the cable (local line 9)as shown in FIG. 25 (S322).

In particular, if the detection section 403 detects that a recorder IDsame as the recorder ID corresponding to the content processingapparatus 10 itself is described in the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20, then it can be decided that the contentprocessing apparatus 10 locally registered in the content reproductionapparatus 20 is actually connected by the cable (local line 9).

If a result of the detection reveals that the recorder IDs described inthe source ID lists L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and thecontent processing apparatus 10 are different from each other (S322),then the warning screen is displayed on the screen of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 (S323). Further, it is confirmed whether or notcontent data exist in the storage apparatus of the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S324).

If content data do not exist (S324), then service registrationrecommendation information for urging the user to perform serviceregistration of the content reproduction apparatus 20 into the groupmanagement server 32 is produced by the notice section 411 and displayedon the display screen of the content processing apparatus 10 (S325).

On the other hand, if content data exist in the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S324), then such a screen for urging the user forinitialization as shown in FIG. 27 is displayed on the screen of thecontent processing apparatus 10 (S326) If an “initialization” button isdepressed by an operation of the inputting section by the user throughthe screen shown in FIG. 27, then the data stored in the storageapparatus of the content reproduction apparatus 20 are all deleted toexecute a physical initialization process (S327).

After the initialization process for the content reproduction apparatus20 is completed (S327), the recorder ID addition section 405 of thecontent processing apparatus 10 executes a local registration process(S328). In particular, the recorder ID addition section 405 adds therecorder ID of the content processing apparatus 10 itself to theregistered source ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 andproduces falsification detecting data including a MAC value determinedby ICV calculation from the updated source ID list L. Further, therecorder ID addition section 405 stores the source ID list L after theaddition and the falsification detecting data into the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S328).

Accordingly, by executing the initialization process for the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S327), it is possible to cancel the localregistration registered in another content processing apparatus 10having a different recorder ID and locally registering the contentreproduction apparatus 20 automatically with the recorder ID of thecontent processing apparatus 10 connected by the cable (local line 9)(S328).

Then, if the result of the detection reveals that the recorder IDdescribed in the source ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus20 and the recorder ID described in the source ID list L of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 are same as each other (S322), then serviceregistration recommendation information by the notice section 411 isdisplayed on the display section. If the user visually observes thedisplay and does not perform service registration of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S329), then, for example, only those contentdata (ripped content data) having the recorder ID applied thereto fromamong the content data stored in the storage apparatus of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can be transferred to the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S330).

On the other hand, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 is to beservice-registered (S329) and the result of the detection by thedetection section 403 indicates that the content processing apparatus 10is service-registered (S331), then the registration screen for serviceregistration of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is displayed onthe display screen of the content processing apparatus 10 (S332).

Thereafter, if the user operates the inputting section such as the mousein accordance with the registration screen displayed on the screen andthe registration request information transmission section 407 acceptsthe instruction to service-register the content reproduction apparatus20, then the registration request information transmission section 407transmits registration request information to the group managementserver 32.

As the content processing apparatus 10 receives registration completioninformation (registration completion information) representative ofcompletion of the service registration of the content reproductionapparatus 20 from the group management server 32, the group ID additionsection 413 adds the group ID of the group to which the contentprocessing apparatus 10 belongs to the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20, thereby completing the service registration(S333).

After the service registration of the content reproduction apparatus 20is completed (S333), the content processing apparatus 10 can transferthose content data, to which a group ID same as the group ID added tothe source ID list L held by the content processing apparatus 10 fromamong the contents data stored in the content processing apparatus 10,to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S334).

On the other hand, if the content processing apparatus 10 is notservice-registered (S331), then a registration screen forservice-registering the content reproduction apparatus 20 and thecontent processing apparatus 10 is displayed on the display screen ofthe content processing apparatus 10 (S335).

If the user operates the inputting section such as the mouse inaccordance with the registration screen displayed on the screen and theregistration request information transmission section 407 accepts theinstruction for service registration, then the registration requestinformation transmission section 407 transmits registration requestinformation to the group management server 32.

The content processing apparatus 10 receives registration completioninformation (registration completion information) representative ofcompletion of the service registration of the content processingapparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the groupmanagement server 32 and produces a group ID based on the leaf ID, andthe group ID addition section 413 adds the group ID to the source IDlists L of the content processing apparatus 10 and the contentreproduction apparatus 20, thereby completing the service registration(S336). It is to be noted that, together with the addition of the groupID, also recorder IDs which belong to the group ID are added to thesource ID lists L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 and thecontent processing apparatus 10.

After the service registration of the content processing apparatus 10and the content reproduction apparatus 20 is completed (S336), thecontent processing apparatus 10 can transfer, from within the contentdata stored in the content processing apparatus 10, those content datato which a group ID same as the group ID added to the source ID list Lpossessed by the content processing apparatus 10 is applied to thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 (S337).

It is to be noted that, while, in the present embodiment, the transferof content data is described taking a case wherein the transfer isperformed from a content processing apparatus 10 to a contentreproduction apparatus 20 as an example, the transfer is not limited tothis example, and the present invention can be applied also to transferfrom a content reproduction apparatus 20 to a content processingapparatus 10 and so forth.

Further, while, in the present embodiment, the acquisition section 401,detection section 403, recorder ID addition section 405, registrationrequest information transmission section 407, registration completionreception section 409, notice section 411 and group ID addition section413 provided in the group registration section of the content processingapparatus 10 are described taking a case wherein they are formed fromhardware as an example, the present invention is not limited to such anexample as just described. For example, at least one of the sectionsmentioned above may be a program which is formed from one, two or moremodules or components.

While the series of processes described above can be executed byhardware for exclusive use, it may otherwise be executed by software.Where the series of processes is executed by software, a program whichconstructs the software is installed into the content processingapparatus 10, content reproduction apparatus 20, server 30 and so forth.

Here, in the present specification, the steps which describe the programfor causing a computer of each of the content processing apparatus 10,content reproduction apparatus 20, group management server 32 and soforth to execute various processes need not necessarily be processed ina time series in the order as described as the flow charts, and includealso processes which are executed parallelly or individually (forexample, parallel processing or processing by an object).

<11. Registration of a Content Processing Apparatus or a ContentReproduction Apparatus in the Case of the Same ID>

Now, a service registration process of a content processing apparatus 10or a content reproduction apparatus 20 where the user IDs are same aseach other is described with reference to FIGS. 28 to 31. FIG. 28 is anexplanatory view showing an outline of an input screen upon a serviceregistration process according to the present embodiment; FIG. 29 is ablock diagram showing a general configuration of the group managementsection according to the present embodiment; FIG. 30 is a sequencediagram showing an outline of service registration of a contentreproduction apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment; and FIG.31 is a sequence diagram showing an outline of service registration of acontent processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

First, as described hereinabove, when a content processing apparatus 10or a content reproduction apparatus 20 is to be service-registered, thecontent processing apparatus 10 accesses the group management server 32through the network and transmits information necessary for a serviceregistration process to the group management server 32 (managementserver according to the present embodiment).

The access is a general term of information processing of processinginformation through a communication network such as utilization of asystem, connection to a server, referring to a file, storage of a file,deletion of a file or alteration to a file.

Further, it is described above that service registration is performedsuch that the group management server 32 transmits a leaf ID to thecontent processing apparatus 10, and the content processing apparatus 10produces a group ID based on the leaf ID and adds the group ID to thesource ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10 or the source IDlist L of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

As shown in FIG. 28, an input screen for requesting for an ID (user ID)and a password of a user from the group management server 32 side whenservice registration is to be performed is displayed on the displayscreen of the content processing apparatus 10, and it is necessary forthe user to operate the inputting section such as the mouse to input auser ID and a password on the input screen. However, even in such a casethat a content processing apparatus 10 or a content reproductionapparatus 20 having the same user ID is to be registered, a user ID anda password must be transmitted to the group management server 32, andthe efficiency in service registration process is low.

Thus, a service registration process by which service registration canbe executed without transmitting a user ID and a password from thecontent processing apparatus 10 to the group management server 32 isdescribed below.

As shown in FIG. 29, the group management section of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 includes a user information transmission section430, a registration request information transmission section 433 and alist management section (list updating section) 140. It is to be notedthat, though not shown, the group management of the content processingapparatus 10 may include also the acquisition section 401, detectionsection 403 and so forth which are mentioned in the description of theconfiguration of the group management section.

The user information transmission section 430 accepts user informationin which a user ID, a password and so forth which are inputted by anoperation of the inputting section by the user are included andtransmits the user information to the group management server 32 throughthe transmission section.

The registration request information transmission section 433 producesregistration request information for requesting the group managementserver 32 for service registration including a device ID or a terminalID and transmits the registration request information to the groupmanagement server 32 through the transmission section.

When service registration of the content reproduction apparatus 20connected to the local line 9 into the content processing apparatus 10is to be performed, the registration request information transmissionsection 433 produces registration request information including thedevice ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 acquired by theacquisition section 401.

Further, when service registration of the content processing apparatus10 is to be performed, the registration request information transmissionsection 433 produces registration request information including aterminal ID produced by the content processing apparatus 10.

When the list management section 140 receives a leaf ID transmitted backfrom the group management server 32 after the registration requestinformation is transmitted to the group management server 32, itproduces a group ID based on the leaf ID and adds the group ID to thesource ID list L held by the content processing apparatus 10 or thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 which is an object of the serviceregistration.

Now, service-registration of a content reproduction apparatus 20 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 30. It is to be noted that, as aprecondition, the content processing apparatus 10 is serviced-registeredalready in the group management server 32.

When the content reproduction apparatus 20 is cable-connected to thecontent processing apparatus 10 by the local line 9, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to detect whether or not the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is service-registered as describedhereinabove.

If the content processing apparatus 10 detects that the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is not service-registered, then the contentprocessing apparatus 10 issues a notification of registration request ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20 to the server 30 through thenetwork as shown in FIG. 30 (S340).

Particularly, the content processing apparatus 10 accesses the WWWserver 31 provided in the server 30 to send a registration requestnotification (S340). The WWW server 31 accepts and transfers theregistration request notification to the group management server.

Then, when the registration request notification is received from thecontent processing apparatus 10, the server 30 transmits registrationstart information which includes information necessary to execute aregistration process to the content processing apparatus 10 (S341). Theregistration start information mentioned above includes information of aURL indicative of a location in which, for example, a transaction IDnecessary for re-transmission of data, a leaf ID necessary to produce agroup ID or the like is stored and so forth. The leaf ID is useridentification information managed by the group management server 32.

After the content processing apparatus 10 receives the registrationstart information, the acquisition section 401 of the content processingapparatus 10 acquires a device ID from the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S342).

After the device ID is acquired (S342), the content processing apparatus10 acquires a terminal ID held by the content processing apparatus 10itself (S343).

Thereafter, the registration request information transmission section433 of the content processing apparatus 10 produces registration requestinformation including the transaction ID, terminal ID and device ID andtransmits the registration request information to the server 30 (S344).

The user registration section (registration section) 312 of the WWWserver 31 of the server 30 acquires a record (registration record) ofthe content processing apparatus 10 registered already based on theterminal ID and performs checking of whether or not the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can be registered, and adds the device ID newlyto the registration record (S345). It is to be noted that, in theregistration record of the content processing apparatus 10, userinformation such as a user ID and a password is coordinated with theterminal ID and so forth. In an ordinary case, the group managementserver 32 first receives the user ID and the password from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to uniquely specify a record in which thecontent processing apparatus 10 is registered. However, if the terminalID is received, then the record can be specified uniquely, andtherefore, a rapid and efficient service registration process can beperformed.

It is to be noted that, although a registration record is describedhereinabove in connection with the group registration DB 324 shown inFIG. 12, registration records (records 3241 to 3245) are recordsproduced when an apparatus such as a content processing apparatus 10 isregistered into the group management server 32. The registration recordincludes a user ID, a password, a terminal ID, a device ID, a recorderID and so forth as described hereinabove.

Further, the WWW server (management server) 31 first receives userinformation including a user ID and a password from the contentprocessing apparatus 10, and the user authentication section(authentication section) 314 of the WWW server 31 authenticates the userinformation and transmits authentication permission notificationinformation to the content processing apparatus 10. If the contentprocessing apparatus 10 does not receive the authentication permissionnotification information, then the registration request informationcannot be transmitted to the WWW server 31 of the server 30. However,even if the user information is not transmitted, if the server 30receives a terminal ID, then since a record can be specified uniquely,the server 30 can perform a rapid and efficient service registrationprocess.

After the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is added tothe group registration DB 324 managed by the group management server 32(S345), the server 30 transmits registration completion information forconveying that the registration is completed to the content processingapparatus 10 (S346).

After the content processing apparatus 10 receives the registrationcompletion information, the acquisition section 401 of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S347). It is to be noted that the acquisitionsection 401 ICV-calculates the source ID list L for detectingfalsification upon acquisition of the source ID list L and confirmswhether the determined MAC value coincides with a MAC value included inthe falsification detecting data (ICV data) acquired together with thesource ID list L.

After the source ID list L is acquired (S347), the list managementsection 140 adds the group ID of the content processing apparatus 10registered already to the source ID list L therein (S348). Further, thelist management section 140 produces falsification detecting data fromthe source ID list L after updated and stores the falsificationdetecting data into the storage apparatus of the content reproductionapparatus 20 together with the source ID list L (S349).

The service registration process of the content reproduction apparatus20 is ended thereby. If the content processing apparatus 10 isservice-registered already, then when a content reproduction apparatus20 owned by the same user is to be service-registered, the serviceregistration can be executed efficiently even if user information suchas a user ID and a password is not inputted intentionally by the user.

Now, service-registration of a content processing apparatus 10 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 31. It is to be noted that, as aprecondition, the content reproduction apparatus 20 isservice-registered already in the group registration DB 324 of the groupmanagement server 32.

After the content reproduction apparatus 20 is cable-connected to thecontent processing apparatus 10 by the local line 9, the contentprocessing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to detect whether or not the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is service-registered as describedhereinabove.

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 decides whether or not thecontent processing apparatus 10 itself is service-registered bydetecting whether or not a group ID and so forth are described in thesource ID list L similarly as in the case of the content reproductionapparatus 20.

Here, if the content processing apparatus 10 detects that the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is not service-registered, then the contentprocessing apparatus 10 first issues a notification of a serviceregistration request of the content processing apparatus 10 itself tothe server 30 through the network (S350).

Then, when the registration request notification is received from thecontent processing apparatus 10, the server 30 transmits transmissionstart information in which information necessary to execute aregistration process is included to the content processing apparatus 10(S351). The registration start information includes information of a URLindicative of a location in which, for example, a transaction IDnecessary for re-transmission of data, a leaf ID necessary to produce agroup ID or the like is stored and so forth. It is to be noted that thetransaction ID is managed by the WWW server 31 and the leaf ID ismanaged by the group management server 32.

After the content processing apparatus 10 receives the registrationstart information, the acquisition section 401 of the content processingapparatus 10 acquires a device ID from the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S352).

After the device ID is acquired (S352), the content processing apparatus10 acquires a terminal ID held by the content processing apparatus 10itself (S353).

Thereafter, the registration request information transmission section433 of the content processing apparatus 10 produces registration requestinformation including the transaction ID, terminal ID and device ID andtransmits the registration request information to the server 30 (S354).

The user registration section 312 of the WWW server 31 acquires a record(registration record) of the content reproduction apparatus 20registered already based on the device ID and performs checking ofwhether or not the content processing apparatus 10 can be registered,and adds the terminal ID newly to the registration record if the contentprocessing apparatus 10 can be registered (S355). It is to be notedthat, in the registration record of the content reproduction apparatus20, user information such as a user ID and a password is coordinatedwith the device ID and so forth. In an ordinary case, the server 30further receives the user ID and the password from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to uniquely specify a registration record inwhich the content reproduction apparatus 20 is registered. However, ifthe device ID is received, then the registration record can be specifieduniquely, and therefore, a rapid and efficient service registrationprocess can be performed.

After the terminal ID of the content processing apparatus 10 is added tothe pertaining registration record of the group registration DB 324 ofthe group management server 32 (S355), the server 30 transmitsregistration completion information for conveying that the registrationis completed to the content processing apparatus 10 (S356).

After the content processing apparatus 10 receives the registrationcompletion information, the acquisition section 401 of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S357). It is to be noted that the acquisitionsection 401 ICV-calculates the source ID list L for detectingfalsification upon acquisition of the source ID list L and confirmswhether the determined MAC value coincides with a MAC value included inthe falsification detecting data (ICV data) acquired together with thesource ID list L.

After the source ID list L is acquired (S357), the list managementsection 140 acquires the group ID of the content reproduction apparatus20 registered already in the source ID list L therein and writes thegroup ID into the source ID list L of the content processing apparatus10 itself (S358).

The service registration process of the content processing apparatus 10is ended thereby. If the content reproduction apparatus 20 isservice-registered already (for example, if the device ID is stored inthe pertaining registration record or in a like case), then when acontent processing apparatus 10 owned by the same user is to beservice-registered, the service registration can be executed efficientlyeven if user information such as a user ID and a password is notinputted intentionally by the user.

While the series of processes described above can be executed byhardware for exclusive use, it may otherwise be executed by software.Where the series of processes is executed by software, a program whichconstructs the software is installed into the content processingapparatus 10, content reproduction apparatus 20, server 30 and so forth.

Here, in the present specification, the steps which describe the programfor causing a computer to execute various processes need not necessarilybe processed in a time series in the order as described as the flowcharts, and include also processes which are executed parallelly orindividually (for example, parallel processing or processing by anobject).

Further, while the user information transmission section 430,registration request information transmission section 433 and listmanagement section 140 provided in the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment are described taking a case whereinthey are formed from one, two or more modules or components as anexample, the present invention is not limited to such an example as justdescribed but can be carried out also in a case wherein, for example,each of the user information transmission section 430, registrationrequest information transmission section 433 and list management section140 provided in the content processing apparatus 10 is formed fromhardware or in a like case.

<12. List Production Method of Title Information Based onPermission/Inhibition of Reproduction of a Content>

Now, a list production method of title information based onpermission/inhibition of reproduction of a content is described withreference to FIGS. 32 to 44.

The content processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodimentdecides with regard to contents stored and retained in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 whether or not the contents can be reproducedunder copyright management by the content processing apparatus 10 andproduces a list (hereinafter referred to also as title list) of titleinformation of the contents so that the decision can be made. Further,the content processing apparatus 10 causes the produced title list to bedisplayed on a display unit which is one of outputting apparatusprovided in the content processing apparatus 10. Furthermore, thecontent processing apparatus 10 can delete a content, with regard towhich it is decided that it cannot be reproduced under copyrightmanagement by the content processing apparatus 10, from the contentprocessing apparatus 10.

Further, the content processing apparatus 10 according to the presentembodiment decides with regard to contents stored and retained in thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processingapparatus 10 whether or not the contents can be reproduced undercopyright management by the content reproduction apparatus 20 andproduces a title list of the contents so that the decision can be made.Further, the content processing apparatus 10 causes the produced titlelist to be displayed on the display unit which is one of the outputtingapparatus provided in the content processing apparatus 10. Furthermore,the content processing apparatus 10 can delete a content, with regard towhich it is decided that it cannot be reproduced under copyrightmanagement by the content reproduction apparatus 20, from the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In the following, a functional configurationof the content processing apparatus 10 for implementing the functionsdescribed above is described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 32, the content processing apparatus 10 furtherincludes, in order to implement the functions described above, forexample, plug-ins 502, a content acquisition section 504, a source IDlist acquisition section 506, a content management informationacquisition section 508, a title list display section 510, a title listproduction section 512, a reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172, a deletion section 516 and so forth. Further, a contentmanagement information DB 118, a content DB 116 and a source ID list Lare stored in the storage apparatus 111 of the content processingapparatus 10.

The plug-ins 502 are a plurality of plug-in modules included in the datacommunication section 120. A plurality of plug-in modules correspondingto different types of the content reproduction apparatus 20 (forexample, PC, PDA, portable video player, MP3 player, IC player, CD play,MD player and so forth) are installed into the content processingapparatus 10 so that the content processing apparatus 10 can performdetection of connection of various types of content reproductionapparatus 20 and transmission and reception of data through the plug-inmodules.

Each plug-in module has set therein a type regarding whether copyrightmanagement of the group management type or copyright management of thecheck-in check-out type should be performed for each contentreproduction apparatus 20 a connection to which is detected by theplug-in module to perform communication. Accordingly, when a plug-inmodule to which a type of the group management method is set is tooperate, the content processing apparatus 10 decidespermission/inhibition of a content in the content reproduction apparatus20 based on the group management method in which a source ID is used. Onthe other hand, when a plug-in module to which a type of the check-incheck-out method is set is to operate, the content processing apparatus10 decides permission/inhibition of a content in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 based on the check-in check-out method inwhich a license corresponding to the content is used.

The content management information acquisition section 508 has afunction of acquiring management information of contents held by thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 from the content reproductionapparatus 20 through the plug-in 502. The management information ofcontents includes a content ID, an address of a content corresponding tothe content ID, title information of the content and so forth. The titleinformation includes, for example, where the content is a music content,the title, artist name and so forth of a tune.

The content acquisition section 504 has a function of receiving acontent ID and/or an address of a content held by the contentreproduction apparatus 20 provided from the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 and acquiring the contentbased on the content ID or address from the content reproductionapparatus 20 through the plug-in 502.

The source ID list acquisition section 506 has a function of acquiringthe source ID list L possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20from the content reproduction apparatus 20 through the plug-in module towhich the method of the group management type is set.

The source ID lists L to which the content processing apparatus 10refers in order to perform permission/inhibition of reproduction of acontent includes a source ID list L held by the content processingapparatus 10 and indicating a providing source of a content whosereproduction by the content processing apparatus 10 is permitted and asource ID list L held by the content reproduction apparatus 20 andindicating a providing source of a content whose reproduction by thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 is permitted. The former is an exampleof a first source ID list, and the latter is an example of a secondsource ID list.

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 has afunction of deciding whether or not a content stored in the content DB116 of the content processing apparatus 10 can be reproduced undercopyright management by the content processing apparatus 10. Further,the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 has also afunction of deciding whether or not a content held by the contentreproduction apparatus 20 can be reproduced under copyright managementby the content reproduction apparatus 20. In the following, the formerfunction is described first.

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires thecontent ID of a content which makes an object of decision ofpermission/inhibition of reproduction from the title list productionsection 512 and acquires a content from the content DB 116 based on thecontent ID. Further, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 acquires the source ID list L stored in the storageapparatus or the like of the content processing apparatus 10. Thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 reads out thesource ID applied to the content acquired from the content DB 116 andchecks whether or not the read out source ID is included in the sourceID list L. If the read out source ID is included in the source ID listL, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172decides that the content to which the source ID is applied is areproducible content. On the other hand, if the read out source ID isnot included in the source ID list L, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 decides that the content towhich the source ID is applied is a non-reproducible content.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, a contentis acquired from the content DB 116 and a source ID applied to thecontent is referred to, the present invention is not limited to thisexample. For example, if a content ID and a source ID are recorded in acoordinated relationship with each other in advance in the contentmanagement information DB 118 or the like, then even if the content isnot acquired from the content DB 116, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 can acquire the source ID byreferring to the content management information DB 118 based on thecontent ID.

Now, the latter function of deciding whether or not a content held bythe content reproduction apparatus 20 can be reproduced under copyrightmanagement by the content reproduction apparatus 20 is described. Sincethe process to be performed by the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 differs depending upon whether copyright managementof the group management type is being performed or copyright managementof the check-in check-out type is being performed by the contentreproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processing apparatus10. Therefore, the processes are described separately. First, theprocess of the group management type is described.

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires acontent ID or an address of a content in the content reproductionapparatus 20 from the title list production section 512 and causes thecontent acquisition section 504 to acquire the content from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 based on the content ID or address. Further,the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 causes thesource ID list acquisition section 506 to acquire the source ID list Lheld by the content reproduction apparatus 20. The reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires the source ID list Lfrom the source ID list acquisition section 506, acquires the contentfrom the content acquisition section 504, acquires the source ID appliedto the content and checks whether or not the source ID is included inthe source ID list L. If the source ID is included in the source ID listL, then it is decided that the content to which the source ID is appliedis a reproducible content, but if the source ID is not included in thesource ID list L, then it is decided that the content to which thesource ID is applied is a non-reproducible content.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, a contentis acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20 and a source IDapplied to the content is referred to, the present invention is notlimited to the example just described. For example, if the contentreproduction apparatus 20 includes a database in which a content ID anda source ID are associated with each other, then the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 can refer to the source IDnecessary for decision of permission/inhibition of reproduction of thecontent by acquiring the database.

Now, the process in the case of the check-in check-out method isdescribed. The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172acquires a content ID or an address of the content in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 from the title list production section 512 andcauses the content acquisition section 504 to acquire the content fromthe content reproduction apparatus 20 based on the content ID oraddress. The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172acquires the content from the content acquisition section 504, reads outreproduction restriction information set to a license applied to thecontent and decides whether or not the content is reproducible. Inparticular, for example, where a reproduction-permission time number isincluded as the reproduction restriction information in the license, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 checks whetheror not the reproduction-permission time number remains (remaining timenumber>0), and if the reproduction-permission time number remains, thenthe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 decides thatthe content is a reproducible content. On the other hand, if areproduction-permission period is included as the reproductionrestriction information, then whether the reproduction-permission perioddoes not elapse is checked, for example, by comparing the system time ofthe content processing apparatus 10 and the reproduction-permissionperiod with each other. If the reproduction-permission period does notelapse, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172decides that the content is a reproducible content.

It is to be noted that, while, in the foregoing description, a licenseis applied to a content and the content is acquired from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to refer to the license included in thecontent, the present invention is limited to the example just described.For example, if the license is not applied to the content but is managedin an associated relationship with the content ID, for example, byanother database in the content reproduction apparatus 20, then thecontent processing apparatus 10 can perform the decision ofpermission/inhibition of reproduction described above not by acquiringthe content but by acquiring the license.

The deletion section 516 has a function of deleting a content, which isdecided to be non-reproducible on the content processing apparatus 10 bythe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172, from thecontent DB 116. Further, the deletion section 516 has another functionof deleting a content, which is decided to be non-reproducible on thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 by the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172, from the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In particular, the deletion section 516decides whether a content of an object of deletion is a content in thecontent processing apparatus 10 or a content in the content reproductionapparatus 20 in accordance with an input from the inputting apparatus108 such as depression of a “collective deletion” button. The deletionsection 516 issues a decision request for permission/inhibition ofreproduction of the content in the content processing apparatus 10 or inthe content reproduction apparatus 20 to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 and acquires an answer fromthe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172. The answerincludes, for example, the content ID and so forth of the content whichhas been decided to be non-reproducible by the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172.

The deletion section 516 deletes the pertaining content from the contentDB 116 or the content reproduction apparatus 20 based on the content IDof the non-reproducible content acquired from the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 and the deletion object(whether the deletion object is in the content processing apparatus 10or in the content reproduction apparatus 20) decided by the deletionsection 516 itself. When the content is to be deleted from the contentDB 116, the deletion section 516 deletes the content to which thecontent ID is applied, for example, based on the content ID. When thecontent is to be deleted from the content reproduction apparatus 20, thedeletion section 516 transmits, for example, the content ID and adeletion request to the content reproduction apparatus 20 through theplug-in 502 so that the content reproduction apparatus 20 deletes thecontent to which the content ID is applied from among the contents heldby the content reproduction apparatus 20 itself.

In the content management information DB 118, content IDs applieduniquely to the contents stored in the content DB 116, addresses of thecontents and title information of the contents are stored in anassociated relationship with each other.

The title list production section 512 has a function of producing atitle list of contents based on an input from the inputting apparatus108. The title list includes information with which the contents can beidentified, and for example, where the contents are music contents, thetitle list includes a tune mane, an artist name and so forth. Inparticular, for example, if the user issues an instruction through theinputting apparatus 108 to display a plurality of contents included in acertain group (album) in the form of a table, the title list productionsection 512 reads out the content IDs of the contents included in thegroup from the content management information DB 118 and provides theread out content IDs to the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 so that the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 decide whether or not the contents can be reproduced by thecontent processing apparatus 10. Thereafter, the title list productionsection 512 acquires a result of the decision from the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 and uses the titleinformation included in the content management information DB 118 toproduce a title list of the contents such that permission/inhibition ofreproduction of the contents can be distinguished. To produce a titlelist of the contents such that permission/inhibition of reproduction ofthe contents can be distinguished is achieved particularly, for example,by setting luminance information which differs depending uponreproducible contents and non-reproducible contents or by coordinatingthem such that different icons are displayed. Or, reproducible contentsand non-reproducible contents may be grouped into different groups.

The title list display section 510 has a function of causing a titlelist produced by the title list production section 512 to be displayedon the display unit which is one of the outputting apparatus 110. Thedisplay allows the user, who has issued the instruction through theinputting apparatus 108 to display, for example, a plurality of contentsincluded in a certain group (album) in the form of a table, to observethe table of the title information including whether or not each contentcan be reproduced by the content processing apparatus 10.

On the other hand, if the user issues an instruction through theinputting apparatus 108 to display the contents in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 in the form of a table, then the title listproduction section 512 requests the content management informationacquisition section 508 to acquire content management information fromthe content reproduction apparatus 20. The content managementinformation acquisition section 508 provides the acquired contentmanagement information to the title list production section 512. Thentitle list production section 512 provides content IDs or addresses ofcontents included in the content management information to thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 so that thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 may decidewhether or not the contents in the content reproduction apparatus 20corresponding to the content IDs or addresses can be reproduced. Thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires thecontent, based on the content IDs or addresses provided, from thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 through the contents acquisitionsection 504. Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 decides whether or not the acquired contents can bereproduced, and provides a result of the decision to the title listproduction section 512. The result at least includes the content IDs andinformation of permission/inhibition of reproduction. The title listproduction section 512 produces a title list, on whichpermission/inhibition of reproduction can be discriminated, based on thecontent IDs included in both of the content management information andthe decision result, title information included in the contentmanagement information and the decision results of permission/inhibitionof reproduction included in the decision result. The discrimination ofpermission/inhibition of reproduction is such as described hereinabove.

Now, a flow of a process of displaying a table of contents in a contentprocessing apparatus 10 in such a manner that permission/inhibition ofreproduction can be discriminated is described with reference to FIG.33.

First at step S410, an instruction to display a table of contents in thecontent processing apparatus 10 is issued (S410). In particular, thetitle list production section 512 designates contents of an object ofdisplay in response to an instruction received through the inputtingapparatus 108 from the user and then issues a request for decision ofpermission/inhibition of reproduction to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172. Then at step S412, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires thesource ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10 (S412).Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172selects a content at the top of the display object contents designatedby the title list production section 512 (S413). In particular, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires morethan one content ID from the title list production section 512 andacquires contents corresponding to the content IDs in the acquired orderor an in an arbitrary order from the content DB 116 (S413, S419).

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 havingacquired the contents reads out, at step S414, the source ID applied toone of the acquired contents (S414). Thereafter, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 checks whether or not theread out source ID is included in the source ID list L (S415). Then, ifthe source ID is included in the source ID list L, then the processingadvances to step S417, at which the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 notifies the title list production section 512 thatthe content to which the source ID is applied can be reproduced. On theother hand, if the source ID is not included in the source ID list L atstep S415, then the processing advances to step S416, at which thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 notifies thetitle list production section 512 that the content to which the sourceID is applied cannot be reproduced. The title list production section512 produces a title list in accordance with the notification from thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172, and the titlelist display section 510 displays based on the produced title list thatthe content is a reproducible or non-reproducible content (S416, S417).The process described is performed for all of the object contents(S418).

The flow of the process of displaying a table of contents in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 in such a manner that permission/inhibition ofreproduction can be discriminated is described above. Now, a flow of aprocess of deleting a content, which cannot be reproduced undercopyright management, from within a content processing apparatus 10 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 34.

First, at step S420, for example, the “collective deletion” button wouldbe depressed by the user (S420). When the button is depressed, thedeletion section 516 issues a request to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 to decidepermission/inhibition of a content stored in the content DB 116 of thecontent processing apparatus 10. The reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 receiving the request first acquires, at step S421,the source ID list L of the content processing apparatus 10 (S421).Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172successively reads out the contents stored in the content DB 116 (S422,S427) and acquires the source ID applied to each of the contents (S423).Then, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 checkswhether or not the acquired source ID is included in the source ID listL (S424). If the acquired source ID is not included in the source IDlist L, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172notifies the deletion section 516 that the content to which the sourceID is applied cannot be reproduced. Then, the deletion section 516deletes the content from the content DB 116 based on the notification(S425). The process described above is performed for all of the contentsstored in the content DB 116 (S426).

The flow of the process of deleting a content which cannot be reproducedunder copyright management from within the content processing apparatus10 is described above. Now, a flow of a process of displaying a table ofcontents in a content reproduction apparatus 20 which performs copyrightmanagement of the group management method in such a manner thatpermission/inhibition of reproduction can be discriminated is describedwith reference to FIG. 35.

First at step S430, an instruction to display a table of contents in thecontent reproduction apparatus is issued (S430). In particular, thetitle list production section 512 issues a request for acquisition ofcontent management information from the content reproduction apparatus20 to the content management information acquisition section 508 inresponse to an instruction received through the inputting apparatus 108from the user as described hereinabove. The title list productionsection 512 issues a request for decision of permission/inhibition ofreproduction of the contents in the content reproduction apparatus 20 tothe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 based on thecontent management information acquired by the content managementinformation acquisition section 508.

Then at step S431, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 acquires the source ID list L from the content reproductionapparatus 20 through the source ID list acquisition section 506 (S431).Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172selects a content at the top of the display object contents designatedby the title list production section 512 (S432). In particular, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 acquires morethan one content ID from the title list production section 512 andacquires contents corresponding to the content IDs in the acquired orderor an in an arbitrary order from the content reproduction apparatus 20through the content acquisition section 504 (S432, S438).

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 havingacquired the contents reads out, at step S433, the source ID applied toone of the acquired contents (S433). Thereafter, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 checks whether or not theread out source ID is included in the source ID list L (S434). Then, ifthe source ID is included in the source ID list L, then the processingadvances to step S436, at which the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 notifies the title list production section 512 thatthe content to which the source ID is applied can be reproduced. On theother hand, if the source ID is not included in the source ID list L atstep S434, then the processing advances to step S435, at which thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 notifies thetitle list production section 512 that the content to which the sourceID is applied cannot be reproduced. The title list production section512 displays based on the notification from the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 that the content is areproducible or non-reproducible content (S435, S436). The processdescribed is performed for all of the object contents (S437).

It is to be noted that, if the source ID list L includes validity terminformation of the source ID, the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 decides that the content to which the source IDwhose term of validity has expired is applied cannot be reproduced.

The flow of the process of displaying a table of contents in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 in such a manner that permission/inhibition ofreproduction can be discriminated is described above. Now, a flow of aprocess of deleting a content, which cannot be reproduced undercopyright management by a content reproduction apparatus 20 whichperforms copyright management of the group management type, from withinthe content reproduction apparatus 20 is described with reference toFIG. 36.

First, at step S440, for example, the “collective deletion” button wouldbe depressed by the user (S440). When the button is depressed, thedeletion section 516 issues a request to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 172 to decidepermission/inhibition of reproduction of a content stored in the contentreproduction apparatus 20. The reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 receiving the request first acquires, at step S441,the source ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus 20 throughthe source ID list acquisition section 506 (S441) Thereafter, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 successivelyreads out the contents from the content reproduction apparatus 20through the content acquisition section 504 (S442, S447) and acquiresthe source ID applied to each of the contents (S443). Then, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 checks whetheror not the acquired source ID is included in the source ID list L(S444). If the acquired source ID is not included in the source ID listL, then the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172notifies the deletion section 516 that the content to which the sourceID is applied cannot be reproduced. Then, the deletion section 516deletes the content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 based onthe notification (S445). The process described above is performed forall of the contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20(S446).

The flow of the process of deleting a content which cannot be reproducedunder copyright management from within the content reproductionapparatus 20 is described above. Now, a flow of a process of causing acontent in the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be reproduced fromthe content processing apparatus 10 is described with reference to FIG.37.

First at step S450, the content reproduction apparatus 20 is connectedto the content processing apparatus 10 (S450). If the user issues aninstruction through the inputting apparatus 108 to display the contentsin the content reproduction apparatus 20 in the form of a table (S451),then the content processing apparatus 10 acquires the source ID list L,content management information and contents from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (S452) and performs the process describedhereinabove with reference to FIG. 35 to make a decision ofpermission/inhibition of reproduction of each content (S453). Then, thecontent processing apparatus 10 displays a title list in such a mannerthat reproducible contents and non-reproducible contents can bediscriminated from each other (S454). The user would select areproducible content from within the displayed title list (S455). Atthis time, the non-reproducible contents may be blocked againstselection. When the user selects a content, the content processingapparatus 10 issues an instruction to the content reproduction apparatus20 to reproduce the content (S456). Since the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision based on the source ID and the source IDlist L has been performed already, there is no necessity to perform ithere again. The content reproduction apparatus 20 reproduces thedesignated content (S457).

The flow of the process of causing a content in the content reproductionapparatus 20 to be reproduced from the content processing apparatus 10is described above. Now, a flow of a process of displaying a table ofcontents in a content reproduction apparatus 20 which performs copyrightmanagement of the check-in check-out type in such a manner thatpermission/inhibition of reproduction can be discriminated is describedwith reference to FIG. 38.

First, at step S460, an instruction to display a table of contents inthe content reproduction apparatus is issued (S460). In particular, thetitle list production section 512 issues a request for acquisition ofcontent management information from the content reproduction apparatus20 to the content management information acquisition section 508 inresponse to an instruction received through the inputting apparatus 108from the user as described hereinabove. The title list productionsection 512 issues a request for decision of permission/inhibition ofreproduction of the contents in the content reproduction apparatus 20 tothe reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 based on thecontent management information acquired by the content managementinformation acquisition section 508.

Then at step S461, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 selects a content at the top of the display object contentsdesignated by the title list production section 512 (S461). Inparticular, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172acquires more than one content ID from the title list production section512 and acquires contents corresponding to the content IDs or addressesin the acquired order or in an arbitrary order from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 through the content acquisition section 504(S461, S468).

The reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 havingacquired the contents reads out, at step S463, reproduction restrictioninformation from a license included in each of the acquired contents(S463). Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 172 decides based on the read out reproduction restrictioninformation whether or not the content is reproducible. In particular,for example, where a reproduction-permission period is set to thereproduction restriction information as described hereinabove, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 compares thereproduction-permission period with the system time of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 or the like to check whether or not thereproduction-permission period elapses (S464). If thereproduction-permission period does not elapse, then the processingadvances to step S466 at which the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 notifies the title list production section 512 thatthe content corresponding to the license can be reproduced. On the otherhand, if the reproduction-permission period elapses, then the processingadvances to step S465, at which the reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 172 notifies the title list production section 512 thatthe content corresponding to the license cannot be reproduced. The titlelist production section 512 displays based on the notification from thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 172 that the contentis a reproducible or non-reproducible content (S465, S466). The processdescribed is performed for all of the object contents (S467).

The flow of the process of displaying a table of contents in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 which performs copyright management of thecheck-in check-out type in such a manner that permission/inhibition ofreproduction can be discriminated is described above. Now, examples ofdisplay of a title list to be displayed are described with reference toFIGS. 39 to 44.

FIG. 39 shows a display example of a title list of contents in thecontent processing apparatus 10. In the title list 520, a tune name, anartist name, play time, a genre and so forth are displayed as titleinformation. Reproducible contents and non-reproducible contents aredistinguished by icons displayed each at the top of the titleinformation such that they are different in color, shape, size or thelike as seen from a reproduction-permission icon 522 and areproduction-inhibition icon 524 in FIG. 39.

FIG. 40 shows a display example of a title list of contents in thecontent reproduction apparatus 20. As shown in FIG. 40, it is possibleto display a title list 530 of the content reproduction apparatus 20,for example, at part of a display screen. Reproducible contents andnon-reproducible contents are distinguished by icons displayed each atthe top of the title information such that they are different from eachother as seen from a reproduction-permission icon 532 and areproduction-inhibition icon 534 in FIG. 40.

FIGS. 41, 42 and 43 show different examples wherein reproduciblecontents and non-reproducible contents are displayed differently fromeach other. In FIG. 41, reproducible contents and non-reproduciblecontents are distinguished by being displayed in different colors or indifferent luminances. For example, since an area 540 in which titleinformation of a reproducible content is displayed and another area 542in which title information of a non-reproducible content is displayedare displayed in different colors or luminances as shown in FIG. 41, theuser can identify reproducible contents and non-reproducible contentsfrom each other. Further, according to such display as described above,where reproducible contents and non-reproducible contents exist in amixed manner in one album, the user can recognize which content in thealbum is reproducible and which content is non-reproducible.

In FIG. 42, non-reproducible contents are distinguished by beingdisplayed collectively. For example, where non-reproducible contents aredisplayed as non-reproducible tunes in a group as shown in FIG. 42, theuser can distinguish reproducible contents and non-reproducible contentsfrom each other. Further, according to the display just described, sincenon-reproducible contents in a content processing apparatus or a contentreproduction apparatus are displayed collectively, the user cancollectively confirm contents which cannot be reproduced by the contentprocessing apparatus or the content reproduction apparatus.

In FIG. 43, reproducible contents and non-reproducible contents aredistinguished from each other by icons different form each othersimilarly as in FIGS. 39 and 40.

FIG. 44 shows a display example of a screen where non-reproduciblecontents are deleted by an operation of a user. If the user depresses acollective deletion button 550 on the display using the inputtingapparatus 108, then the non-reproducible contents are deleted from thecontent processing apparatus 10 or the content reproduction apparatus20, and title information relating to the deleted contents disappearsalso from the title list 520 or 530 of the display screen.

The functional configuration, processing flows and screen displayexamples of the content processing apparatus 10 according to the presentembodiment are described above. With the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment, since contents are displayed insuch a manner that it can be discriminated whether or not the contentsare reproducible in regard to the copyright, the user can recognizewhether or not a content can be reproduced without actually reproducingthe content. Further, since also title information of anynon-reproducible content is displayed, the user can recognizeinformation of those contents which cannot be reproduced.

<13. Content Transfer Method>

Now, a content transfer method of the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment is described with reference to FIGS.45 to 53. The content processing apparatus 10 according to the presentembodiment performs transfer to and from a content reproductionapparatus 20 connected to the content processing apparatus 10 in acorresponding form in response to the copyright management method of thecontent reproduction apparatus 20. In particular, where the contentreproduction apparatus 20 performs copyright management of the groupmanagement type, the content processing apparatus 10 receives contentspossessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the contentreproduction apparatus 20. Further, the content processing apparatus 10transmits contents possessed by the content processing apparatus 10itself to the content reproduction apparatus 20. On the other hand,where the content reproduction apparatus 20 performs copyrightmanagement of the check-in check-out type, the content processingapparatus 10 performs check-in and check-out from and to the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In the following, a functional configurationof the content processing apparatus 10 for implementing the functionsdescribed above is described in detail.

In order to implement the functions, the content processing apparatus 10further includes, for example, a first display section 602, a seconddisplay section 604, a first operation display section 606, a secondoperation display section 608, a plurality of plug-ins, a selectionsection 610, a requesting section 612, a transfer mode detection section616, a transfer control section 614, a first transfer processing section618, a second transfer processing section 622, a third transferprocessing section 620, a fourth transfer processing section 624, acheck-out log storage section 626 and so forth.

The first display section 602 has a function of causing titleinformation of contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20connected to the content processing apparatus 10 to be displayed on thedisplay apparatus which is one of the outputting section provided in thecontent processing apparatus 10. The second display section 604 has afunction of causing title information of contents stored in the contentDB 116 of the content processing apparatus 10 to be displayed on thedisplay apparatus. The first display section 602 and the second displaysection 604 can cause individual display objects on the same screen asin the case of a screen layout hereinafter described. Accordingly, theuser can confirm both of the title information of the contents in thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the title information of thecontents in the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to thecontent processing apparatus 10 on the same screen.

The selection section 610 has a function of providing a content IDcorresponding to title information designated through the inputtingapparatus by the user from within the title information of the contentsin the content processing apparatus 10 and the title information of thecontents in the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the requestingsection 612. In particular, the content ID corresponding to the titleinformation designated by the user is searched for and found out fromwithin the content management DB and provided to the requesting section612.

The first operation display section 606 has a function of causing anoperation section, which is provided to allow the user to perform afirst operation, to be displayed on the display apparatus. The firstoperation is an operation of issuing an instruction to transfer acontent from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. The first operation display section 606 causesthe display apparatus to display, for example, an icon or the like as anoperation section and issues a notification that the operation isperformed to the requesting section 612 when an operation through theinputting apparatus is performed for the operation section by the usersuch as clicking of the icon performed, for example, by means of themouse by the user.

The second operation display section 608 has a function of causing anoperation section, which is provided to allow the user to perform asecond operation, to be displayed on the display apparatus. The secondoperation is an operation of issuing an instruction to transfer acontent from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20. The second operation display section 608causes the display apparatus to display, for example, an icon or thelike as an operation section and issues a notification that theoperation is performed to the requesting section 612 when an operationthrough the inputting apparatus is performed for the operation sectionby the user such as clicking of the icon performed, for example, bymeans of the mouse by the user.

The requesting section 612 acquires a content ID from the selectionsection 610 and receives the notification described hereinabove from thefirst operation display section 606, and issues a request to thetransfer control section 614 to transfer a content corresponding to thecontent ID from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. In particular, the requesting section 612provides, for example, the content ID acquired from the selectionsection 610 and a flag or the like indicative of a transfer request fromthe content reproduction apparatus 20 to the content processingapparatus 10 to the transfer control section 614.

Further, when the notification described hereinabove is received fromthe second operation display section 608, the requesting section 612issues a request to the transfer control section 614 to transfer acontent corresponding to the content ID acquired from the selectionsection 610 from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In particular, the requesting section 612provides, for example, the content ID acquired from the selectionsection 610 and a flag or the like indicative of a transfer request fromthe content processing apparatus 10 to the content reproductionapparatus 20 to the transfer control section 614.

The transfer control section 614 receives the transfer request of acontent from the requesting section 612 and issues a request to thetransfer mode detection section 616 to detect a transfer mode of thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the content processingapparatus 10. The transfer mode detection section 616 detects a plug-inmodule which is operating from among the plurality of plug-in modulesand acquires a copyright management type set to the operating plug-inmodule. In particular, for example, if a file or the like in whichidentifiers of the plug-in modules and copyright management types set tothe plug-in modules are associated with each other is stored in thestorage apparatus of the content processing apparatus 10 in advance,then the transfer mode detection section 616 can acquire the copyrightmanagement type set to the operating plug-in module by referring to thefile. The content reproduction apparatus 20 corresponding to the plug-inmodule performs copyright management of contents in accordance with thecopyright management method set to the plug-in module. Accordingly, thetransfer mode detection section 616 can determine whether the copyrightmanagement method of the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected tothe content processing apparatus 10 is the group management type or thecheck-in check-out type by detecting the copyright management method setto the operating plug-in module.

The transfer control section 614 acquires a result of the detection fromthe transfer mode detection section 616 and causes one of the firsttransfer processing section 618, second transfer processing section 622,third transfer processing section 620 and fourth transfer processingsection 624 to perform a transfer process in response to the detectionresult and a request from the requesting section 612.

If the notification from the requesting section 612 is transfer of thecontent from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and besides the detection result of the transfermode detection section 616 is the check-in check-out type (first mode),then the transfer control section 614 causes the first transferprocessing section 618 to perform the transfer process.

If the notification from the requesting section 612 is transfer of thecontent from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20 and besides the detection result of thetransfer mode detection section 616 is the check-in check-out type, thetransfer control section 614 causes the third transfer processingsection 620 to perform the transfer process.

If the notification from the requesting section 612 is transfer of thecontent from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and besides the detection result of the transfermode detection section 616 is the group management type (second mode),then the transfer control section 614 causes the second transferprocessing section 622 to perform the transfer process.

If the notification from the requesting section 612 is transfer of thecontent from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20 and besides the detection result of thetransfer mode detection section 616 is the group management type, thetransfer control section 614 causes the fourth transfer processingsection 624 to perform the transfer process. The transfer processing ofeach transfer processing section is described below.

The third transfer processing section 620 performs a check-out processof a content from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20. The check-out process is a process ofrestricting the right of the content processing apparatus 10 with whichthe content processing apparatus 10 can, instead of transferring a copyof a content possessed in the content DB 116 thereof from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 with alicense, in which right information with regard to the copy of thecontent is set, applied thereto, transfer the content to a differentinformation processing apparatus.

The third transfer processing section 620 acquires a content ID from thetransfer control section 614 and searches the content DB 116 for acontent corresponding to the content ID. The third transfer processingsection 620 refers to the remaining check-out time number set to thelicense applied to the content. If the remaining check-out time numberis greater than 0, then the third transfer processing section 620 cancheck out the content. Therefore, the third transfer processing section620 produces a copy and a license of the content and applies theproduced license to the content produced and then transmits the contentto the content reproduction apparatus 20 through the transfer controlsection 614. The third transfer processing section 620 performs aprocess of decrementing the remaining check-out time number set to thelicense of the content stored in the content DB 116 which is the copyingsource of the content transmitted to the content reproduction apparatus20. Further, the third transfer processing section 620 acquires thedevice ID set to the content reproduction apparatus 20 which is atransmission destination of the content through the transfer controlsection 614 and stores the content ID of the transmitted content and thedevice ID described hereinabove in an associated relationship as acheck-out log into the check-out log storage section 626.

The first transfer processing section 618 performs a check-in process ofa content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. The check-in process is a process of deprivingthe content reproduction apparatus 20 of a right of reproducing acontent checked out in such a manner as described hereinabove to thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 and instead causing the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to recover a right of being capable of checkingout the content to another information processing apparatus.

The first transfer processing section 618 acquires a content ID from thetransfer control section 614. Further, the first transfer processingsection 618 acquires a device ID of the content reproduction apparatus20 from the content reproduction apparatus 20 through the transfercontrol section 614. The first transfer processing section 618 searchesthe check-out log storage section 626 for a check-out log in which thecontent ID and the device ID are associated with each other based on theacquired content ID and device ID. If a result of the search revealsthat the pertaining check-out log is stored in the check-out log storagesection 626, then it is determined that the content corresponding to thecontent ID is a content checked out from the content processingapparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20. In this instance,the first transfer processing section 618 performs a check-in process ofthe content. In particular, the first transfer processing section 618transmits a request to delete the license applied to the contentcorresponding to the content ID from the content reproduction apparatus20 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 to cause the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to delete the pertaining license. Also thecontent corresponding to the content ID may be deleted similarly.Further, the third transfer processing section 620 performs a process ofsearching the content DB 116 of the content processing apparatus 10 fora content corresponding to the content ID acquired from the transfercontrol section 614 and increasing the check-out remaining time numberset to the license applied to the content. Further, the third transferprocessing section 620 deletes the check-out log searched out asdescribed above from the check-out log storage section 626.

The second transfer processing section 622 performs a transfer processof a content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10. In particular, the second transfer processingsection 622 acquires the source ID list L (second source ID list L)possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 through the transfer control section 614.Further, the second transfer processing section 622 reads out the groupID from the source ID list L (first source ID list L) of the contentprocessing apparatus 10 and reads out the group ID from the acquiredsecond source ID list L to check whether or not the two IDs coincidewith each other. If the two IDs coincide with each other, then since thecontent processing apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus20 are registered in the same group in the management server, transferof the content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 is permitted. Accordingly, when the group IDsincluded in the first source ID list L and the second source ID list Lcoincide with each other, the second transfer processing section 622issues a request to the content reproduction apparatus 20 to transferthe content corresponding to the content ID through the transfer controlsection 614 and stores the pertaining content transferred thereto intothe content DB 116. It is to be noted that, where a plurality of groupIDs are included in the first source ID list L or the second source IDlist L, transfer is permitted if one of the plural group IDs included inthe first source ID list L is included as a group ID in the secondsource ID list L. Further, in order to prevent the same content frombeing stored in an overlapping relationship into the content DB 116,before the second transfer processing section 622 issues a request fortransfer of a content to the content reproduction apparatus 20, it mayacquire the content ID from the transfer control section 614 and searchthe content DB 116 to decide whether or not the content corresponding tothe content ID is stored in the content DB 116 and then issue a requestfor transfer only if the content corresponding to the content ID is notaccommodated in the content DB 116.

The fourth transfer processing section 624 performs a transfer processof a content from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20. In particular, the fourth transfer processingsection 624 acquires the source ID list L (second source ID list L)possessed by the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 through the transfer control section 614.Meanwhile, the second transfer processing section 622 acquires thecontent ID of the content of an object of transfer from the transfercontrol section 614 and searches the content DB 116 for a contentcorresponding to the content ID. The second transfer processing section622 acquires the source ID applied to the searched out content andchecks whether or not the acquired source ID is included in the sourceID list L (second source ID list L) acquired from the contentreproduction apparatus 20. If a result of the check proves that theacquired source ID is included in the source ID list L (second source IDlist L), then since the content to which the source ID is applied can bereproduced by the content reproduction apparatus 20, the fourth transferprocessing section 624 transfers the content to the content reproductionapparatus 20 through the transfer control section 614. It is to be notedthat the fourth transfer processing section 624 may produce and transfera copy of the content.

The functional configuration of the content processing apparatus 10 isdescribed above. Now, a flow of transfer or check-in of a content fromthe content reproduction apparatus 20 to the content processingapparatus 10 is described with reference to FIGS. 46 to 49.

First, at step S502 of FIG. 46, the user would select title informationof a desired content from within title information of contents in thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 displayed on the display section ofthe content processing apparatus 10 and depress a “←” button (S502). Thedepression of the “←” button is an example of an operation. As the “←”button is depressed through the inputting apparatus, a transfer requestof the selected content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 tothe content processing apparatus 10 is generated in the contentprocessing apparatus 10.

Then at step S504, the content processing apparatus 10 detects thetransfer mode of the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S504). Thedetection process is described in detail with reference to FIG. 47.First, at step S512, the content processing apparatus 10 acquires theidentifier of an operating one of the plug-in modules (S512). Then, thecontent processing apparatus 10 acquires the copyright management typeset to the operating plug-in module based on the acquired identifier(S514). In particular, for example, the content processing apparatus 10performs such an operation as referring to a file in which identifiersand copyright management types are associated with each other in advanceas described hereinabove to acquire the copyright management type set tothe plug-in module.

Referring back to FIG. 46, after the content processing apparatus 10acquires the transfer mode (copyright management type) of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 at step S504, if the transfer mode is thegroup management type, then the processing advances to step S508, atwhich the content processing apparatus 10 starts a transfer processaccording to the group management method (S508). On the other hand, ifthe transfer mode is the check-in check-out type, then the processingadvances to step S510, at which the content processing apparatus 10starts a check-in check-out process (S510).

A flow of a transfer process of a content from the content reproductionapparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10 by the groupmanagement method is described with reference to FIG. 48.

First, at step S520, the content processing apparatus 10 acquires thesource ID list L (second source ID list L) from the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S520). Thereafter, the content processing apparatus 10acquires the group ID from the source ID list L (first source ID list L)of the content processing apparatus 10 and checks whether or not thegroup ID is included in the second source ID list L (S522). If a resultof the check reveals that the group ID is not included in the secondsource ID list L, then the content processing apparatus 10 displays anerror message that the content cannot be transferred (S524). On theother hand, if the group ID is included in the second source ID list L,then the content processing apparatus 10 checks based on the content IDof the content selected by the user whether or not the contentprocessing apparatus 10 possesses the content of an object of transferalready (S526). If a result of the check reveals that the contentprocessing apparatus 10 possesses the content of an object of transferalready (S528), then the content processing apparatus 10 notifies theuser by displaying a message that the content exists in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 already or by some other means (S530).

On the other hand, if the content processing apparatus 10 does notpossess the content of an object of transfer (S528), the contentprocessing apparatus 10 causes the content to be transferred from thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10(S532).

Now, a transfer process (check-in process) of a content from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10according to the check-in check-out method is described with referenceto FIG. 49.

First, at step S540, the content processing apparatus 10 searches for acheck-out log based on the content ID of the content of an object oftransfer and the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 asdescribed hereinabove (S540) to check whether or not a log in which thecontent has been checked out to the content reproduction apparatus 20exists. If a result of the check reveals that the pertaining check-outlog does not exist (S542), then the content processing apparatus 10displays an error message that the content cannot be checked in such as“This content is not a content checked out from the content processingapparatus” (S544).

On the other hand, if the pertaining check-out log exists (S542), thenthe content processing apparatus 10 increments the remaining check-outtime number set to the license applied to the content in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 corresponding to the content ID of the contentof the check-in object by one (S546). Thereafter, the content processingapparatus 10 deletes the content of the check-in object and the licenseapplied to the content from the content reproduction apparatus 20(S548). It is to be noted that the order of the step S546 and the stepS548 may be reversed.

The flow of transfer or check-in of a content from the contentreproduction apparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10 isdescribed above. Now, a flow of transfer or check-out of a content fromthe content processing apparatus 10 to the content reproductionapparatus 20 is described with reference to FIGS. 50 to 52.

First at step S550 of FIG. 50, the user would select title informationof a desired content from within title information of contents in thecontent processing apparatus 10 displayed on the display section of thecontent processing apparatus 10 and depress a “→” button (S550). The “→”button is an example of an operation element. As the “→” button isdepressed through the inputting apparatus, a transfer request of theselected content from the content processing apparatus 10 to the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is generated in the content processingapparatus 10.

Then at step S552, the content processing apparatus 10 detects thetransfer mode of the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S552). Thedetection process is similar to the process described above withreference to FIG. 47. If a result of the detection proves that thetransfer mode is the group management type, then the processing advancesto step S556, at which the content processing apparatus 10 starts atransfer process according to the group management method (S556). On theother hand, if the transfer mode is the check-in check-out type, thenthe processing advances to step S558, at which the content processingapparatus 10 starts a check-in check-out process (S558).

A flow of a transfer process of a content from the content processingapparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 according to thegroup management method is described with reference to FIG. 51.

First, at step S560, the content processing apparatus 10 acquires thesource ID list L (second source ID list L) from the content reproductionapparatus 20 (S560). Thereafter, the content processing apparatus 10acquires the source ID applied to the content selected by the user(S562) and checks whether or not the source ID is included in the secondsource ID list L (S564). If the source ID is not included in the secondsource ID list L, then the content processing apparatus 10 displays anerror message that the content is not to be transferred such as “Thiscontent cannot be reproduced by the content reproduction apparatus”(S572). On the other hand, if the source ID is included in the secondsource ID list L, then the content processing apparatus 10 transfers thecontent of the object of transfer from the content processing apparatus10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S570).

Now, a transfer process (check-out process) of a content from thecontent processing apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20according to the check-in check-out method is described with referenceto FIG. 52.

First, at step S580, the content processing apparatus 10 refers to thelicense applied to a selected transfer object content in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 (S580). If the remaining check-out time numberset to the license is 0 (S582), then the content processing apparatus 10displays an error message that the transfer object content cannot bechecked out (S592). On the other hand, if the remaining check-out timenumber is greater than 0, then the content processing apparatus 10produces a license wherein reproduction restriction information of thecontent in the content reproduction apparatus 20 or the like is set(S584). Then, the content processing apparatus 10 applies the producedlicense to the copy of the content and transmits the copy of the contentto the content reproduction apparatus 20 (S586).

Thereafter, the content processing apparatus 10 decrements the check-outtime number set to the license applied to the content in the contentprocessing apparatus 10 which is the copying source of the contenttransmitted to the content reproduction apparatus 20 by one (S588).Then, the content processing apparatus 10 produces a check-out log inwhich the content ID of the content whose check-out has been performedand the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 of thecheck-out destination are associated with each other (S590).

The flow of the transfer of the check-out of a content from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 isdescribed above. Now, an example of a screen layout displayed on thedisplay unit of the content processing apparatus 10 according to thepresent embodiment is described.

A title list 630 is an example of title information of contents in thecontent processing apparatus 10 displayed by the second display section604. Another title list 632 is an example of title information ofcontents in the content reproduction apparatus 20 displayed by the firstdisplay section 602.

A “→” button 634 is an example of an operation element displayed by thesecond operation display section 608. A “←” button 636 is an example ofan operation element displayed by the first operation display section606.

The user can perform transfer of a desired content from the contentprocessing apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 byselecting a desired title from within the title list 630 and depressingthe “→” button 634. Thereupon, transfer of the content according to thegroup management method or check-out of the content according to thecheck-in check-out method is performed selectively in response to thecopyright management method of the content reproduction apparatus 20which is the transfer destination.

Further, the user can perform transfer of a desired content from thecontent reproduction apparatus 20 to the content processing apparatus 10by selecting a desired title from within the title list 632 anddepressing the “←” button 636. Thereupon, transfer of the contentaccording to the group management method or check-in of the contentaccording to the check-in check-out method is performed selectively inresponse to the copyright management method of the content reproductionapparatus 20 which is the transfer source.

An example of the screen layout to be displayed on the display apparatusof the content processing apparatus 10 is described above.

In the foregoing description, the structural configuration, processingflows and screen display example of the content processing apparatus 10according to the present embodiment are described above. With thecontent processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, acontent can be transferred in response to a copyright management methodof the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing apparatus 10 in accordance with a method corresponding to thecopyright management method. Further, even if an operation is performedfor the same operation element, since the content processing apparatus10 detects the copyright management method of the content reproductionapparatus 20 to discriminate a transfer method, the user need not beconscious of the copyright management method of the content reproductionapparatus 20 to select a transfer method.

<14. Content Reproduction Control Method of the Content ReproductionApparatus (PD)>

Now, a reproduction control method of a content by the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according to the present embodiment isdescribed.

The content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according to the presentembodiment is ready for both of a copyright management scheme of thegroup management type and another copyright management scheme of thecheck-in check-out type as described hereinabove. To this end, thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 can selectively execute one ofreproduction control of the group management type based on a source IDapplied to a content and a source ID list L and reproduction control ofthe check-in check-out type based on utilization condition informationof a license corresponding to a content.

The content processing apparatus (PC) 10 sets the reproduction controlmethod of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 connected theretothrough the local line 9 to one of the group management type and thecheck-in check-out type. The setting of the reproduction control methodis performed by the content processing apparatus (PC) 10 which acquiresICV data 231 of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 from thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20, updating the type identificationinformation (flag 232, refer to FIG. 10) in the ICV data 231 and thentransferring the ICV data 231 to the content reproduction apparatus (PD)20 so as to be written into the content reproduction apparatus 20. Forexample, if the flag 232 in the ICV data 231 is described as “0”, thenthe reproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus(PD) 20 is set to the group management type, but if the flag 232 isdescribed as “1”, then the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 is set to the check-in check-out type.

It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, the ICV data 231 ofthe content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 can be updated only by thecontent processing apparatus (PC) 10 locally connected to the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20, but the content reproduction apparatus(PD) 20 itself cannot update the ICV data 231. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an example as just described, but thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 itself may be configured so as toupdate the ICV data 231 based on a user input or the like so that thereproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus (PD)20 may be changed over by the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20itself.

Now, an example of a content reproduction control process of the contentreproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according to the present embodiment isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 54 and 10. It is to be noted that FIG.54 is a flow chart illustrating an example of the content reproductioncontrol process of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 accordingto the present embodiment.

This content reproduction control process is a processing flow ofcausing a content of a reproduction object to be selected by a user fromamong all of contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20and then deciding permission/inhibition of reproduction of the selectedcontent of the reproduction object to perform control of thereproduction.

As shown in FIG. 54, first at step S600, the content reproductionapparatus 20 is activated (S600). For example, if a power supply button(reproduction key or the like) of the content reproduction apparatus 20is depressed by a user, then the content reproduction apparatus 20 isactivated. It is to be noted that, upon this activation, the contentreproduction apparatus 20 and the content processing apparatus (PC) 10need not be connected to each other.

Then at step S602, the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 set in advance is decided based on the methodidentification information by the reproduction control type decisionsection 240 of the content reproduction apparatus 20 (step S602).

In particular, after the content reproduction apparatus 20 is activated,the reproduction control type decision section 240 reads out the ICVdata 231 stored in the storage section 230 of the content reproductionapparatus 20 and checks the flag 232 in the ICV data 231. This flag 232is an example of the method identification information representative ofthe reproduction control method of the content. The reproduction controltype decision section 240 decides based on the value of the flag 232whether the reproduction control method of the content reproductionapparatus 20 is set to the group ID management method (firstreproduction control method) or the check-in check-out method (firstreproduction control method). For example, if the flag 232 is “0”, thenthe reproduction control type decision section 240 decides that thereproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus (PD)20 is set to the group management method, and the processing advances tostep S604. On the other hand, if the flag 232 is “1”, then thereproduction control type decision section 240 decides that thereproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus (PD)20 is set to the check-in check-out method, and the processing advancesto step S606.

Then at step S604, the validity in that reproduction control of thegroup management method is performed is checked by the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 of the content reproductionapparatus 20 (step S604). In particular, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 checks the validity of thesource ID list L stored in the storage section 230 based on the ICV data231 stored in the storage section 230, that is, checks whether or notthe source ID list L is falsified illegally. As described hereinabove,the MAC value 233 of the legal source ID list L is included in the ICVdata 231 of the group management method. Therefore, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 can detect presence/absenceof falsification of the source ID list L by comparing the MAC value ofthe source ID list L at present read out from the storage section 230and the MAC value 233 of the ICV data 231 read out from the storagesection 230 with each other.

On the other hand, at step S606, the validity in that reproductioncontrol of the check-in check-out method is performed is checked by thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 (step S606). In particular, the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 checks the validity of thelicense of each of the contents stored in the storage section 230, thatis, checks whether or not the license is falsified illegally, based onthe ICV data 231 stored in the storage section 230. As describedhereinabove, the MAC value 233 based on the license of each content isincluded in the ICV data 231 of the check-in check-out method.Therefore, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242can detect presence/absence of falsification of the license by comparingthe license of each content and the MAC value 233 of the ICV data 231.

If illegal falsification is detected as a result of such a validitycheck at step S604 or S606 as described above, then the reproduction ofthe content is not permitted, but an error notification is issued andall processes are ended. On the other hand, if illegal falsification isnot found but the validity is confirmed, then the processing advances tostep S608.

Then at step S608, content management information is read out from thecontent management information database 236 into the RAM 203 (stepS608). This content management information is attribute information ofcontents stored in the content database 234 such as a content ID, titleinformation of the contents (tune name, artist name, album name,reproduction time and so forth), recording place information (forexample, an address in the content database 234) and so forth relatingto the contents.

Further at step S610, a title list is displayed on the display apparatus210 of the content reproduction apparatus 20 (step S610). The title listproduction section 250 of the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20produces a title list of the contents based on the title information ofthe contents read out from the content management information database236. This title list is, for example, a table of tune names of musiccontents and includes, as incidental information, an artist name or analbum name, reproduction time and so forth of a music content. Further,the title list production section 250 causes the produced title list tobe displayed on the display apparatus 210.

Thereafter, at step S612, a content of a reproduction object would beselected by the user (step S612). When the title list is displayed onthe display apparatus 210 as described above, the user would read thetitle list to select one, two or more contents whose reproduction isdesired and operate the inputting apparatus 208 to designate the titleinformation of the content or contents.

Furthermore, at step S614, a reproduction instruction would be issued bythe user (step S614). After the title information of the content orcontents whose reproduction is desired is designated in such a manner asdescribed above, the user would depress the reproduction key of, forexample, the inputting apparatus 208 or the remote controller 218 toissue an instruction to start a reproduction process. Consequently, thecontent selection section 252 selects a content or contentscorresponding to the title information designated by the user as acontent or contents of an object of reproduction and outputs information(content ID, storage place information and so forth) relating to each ofthe contents of the reproduction object to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242.

Further, at step S616, the content of the first one of the selectedreproduction objects is read out from the content database 234 (stepS616). In particular, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 searches the content database 234 based on informationregarding the contents of the reproduction object inputted from thecontent selection section 252 to read out the file of the first one ofthe contents of the reproduction object.

Thereafter, at step S618, the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 set in advance is decided similarly as at stepS602 described hereinabove (step S618). If it is decided as a result ofthe decision that the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is the group management type, then theprocessing advances to step S620, but if it is decided that thereproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus 20 isthe check-in check-out method, then the processing advances to stepS622. It is to be noted that, since the decision of the reproductioncontrol method has been performed at step S602 described hereinabove,the present set S618 at which similar decision of the reproductioncontrol method is performed can be omitted.

Then at step S620, the first reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 a decides permission/inhibition of the content of thereproduction object based on the reproduction control method of thegroup management type (step S620). In particular, the first reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 a decidespermission/inhibition of reproduction of the content based on whether ornot the source ID applied to the content of the reproduction object isincluded in the source ID list L stored in the storage section 230 ofthe content reproduction apparatus 20.

If a result of the decision reveals that the source ID applied to thecontent of the reproduction object is included in the source ID list L,then the first reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 apermits reproduction of the content, and the processing advances to stepS624. On the other hand, if the source ID applied to the content of thereproduction object is not included in the source ID list L, then thefirst reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 a does notpermit reproduction of the content, and the processing advances to stepS626.

It is to be noted that, if a term of validity is set to the source IDincluded in the source ID list L, then the first reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 a decides, at step S620, inaddition to the decision described above, whether or not the source IDapplied to the content of the reproduction object is within the term ofvalidity. If the source ID is within the term of validity, then thefirst reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 a permitsreproduction of the content, but if the source ID is outside the term ofvalidity, then the first reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 a does not permit reproduction of the content.

Meanwhile, at step S622, permission/inhibition of reproduction of thecontent of the reproduction object is decided based on the reproductioncontrol method of the check-in check-out type by the second reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 b (step S622). In particular,the second reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 bdecides permission/inhibition of the content of the reproduction objectbased on the utilization conditions (reproduction time numberrestriction, reproduction term and so forth) of the license associatedwith the content of the reproduction object.

If a result of the decision reveals that the utilization conditions ofthe license are satisfied (for example, when the license is within thereproduction term, when the reproduction time number in the past doesnot reach an upper limit to the reproduction time number or the like),the second reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 bpermits reproduction of the content, and the processing advances to stepS624. At this time, for example, if a reproduction time numberrestriction is set to a utilization condition of the license, then thereproduction time number is incremented by one. On the other hand, ifthe utilization conditions of the license are not satisfied (forexample, when the license is outside the reproduction term, when thereproduction time number in the past reaches the upper limit to thereproduction time number or the like), the second reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 b does not permitreproduction of the content, and the processing advances to step S626.

Thereafter, at step S624, the content of the reproduction object whosereproduction has been permitted at step S620 or S622 describedhereinabove is reproduced by the reproduction execution section 524(step S624). On the other hand, the content of the reproduction objectwhose reproduction has not been permitted at step S620 or S622 describedhereinabove is not reproduced. In this instance, an error notificationmay be issued.

Then at step S626, it is decided whether or not the reproduction controlat steps S618 to S624 described above has been performed for all of thecontents of the object of reproduction selected at step S612 describedhereinabove (step S626). If the reproduction control has not beperformed for some of the selected contents, then the processingadvances to step S628, at which a next one of the contents of thereproduction object is read out from the content database 234 (stepS628). Thereafter, the reproduction control at S618 to S624 is performedin a similar manner as described above for the next content of thereproduction object. After such processes as described above arerepeated for all of the contents of the reproduction object selected atstep S612 described hereinabove, the entire processing flow is ended.

Now, another example of the content reproduction control process of thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 according to the presentembodiment is described with reference to FIGS. 55 and 10. It is to benoted that FIG. 55 is a flow chart illustrating another example of thecontent reproduction control process of the content reproductionapparatus (PD) 20 according to the present embodiment.

This content reproduction control process is a processing flow wherein,for example, title information of all of contents stored in the contentreproduction apparatus 20 is first displayed in a list such thatreproducible contents and non-reproducible contents can be distinguishedfrom each other and then, after a user who reads the title list selectsa content of a reproduction object from among the reproducible contents,the selected content of the reproduction object is reproduced.

As shown in FIG. 55, pre-processes similar to those at steps S600 toS608 described hereinabove with reference to FIG. 54 are performed first(steps S600 to S608).

At next steps S650 to S664, a title list display process is performedwherein a title list on which reproducible contents and non-reproduciblecontents can be distinguished from each other is displayed on thedisplay apparatus 210 of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

In particular, first at step S650, a first content of the display objectis read out from the content database 234 (step S650). In particular,the reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 searches thecontent database 234 based on information relating to the content in thecontent management information (content ID, storage place informationand so forth) read out at step S508 described hereinabove to read out afile of the first content of the display object.

It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, all of the contentsstored in the content database 234 of the content reproduction apparatus20 are determined as contents of a display object. However, the presentinvention is not limited to such an example as just described, but someof the contents may be determined as contents of a display object basedon a predetermined reference for selection. This reference for selectionmay be, for example, the artist, album, genre, release date, latestreproduction timing, designation by the user or the like of a musiccontent.

Then at step S652, the reproduction control method of the contentreproduction apparatus 20 set in advance is decided similarly as at stepS602 described hereinabove (step S652). If a result of the decisionproves that the reproduction control method is the group managementmethod, then the processing advances to step S654, but if thereproduction control method is the check-in check-out method, then theprocessing advances to step S656. It is to be noted that, since thedecision of the reproduction control method has been performed at stepS602 described hereinabove, the present step S652 at which similardecision of the reproduction control method is performed can be omitted.

Further, at step S654, the first reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 242 a decides permission/inhibition of the content ofthe reproduction object based on the reproduction control method of thegroup management type (step S654). In particular, the first reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 a decidespermission/inhibition of reproduction of the content of the reproductionobject based on whether or not the source ID applied to the content ofthe reproduction object is included in the source ID list L stored inthe storage section 230 of the content reproduction apparatus 20.

If a result of the decision reveals that the source ID applied to thecontent of the reproduction object is included in the source ID list L,then the first reproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 adecides that the content is a reproducible content, and the processingadvances to step S658. On the other hand, if the source ID applied tothe content of the reproduction object is not included in the source IDlist L, then the first reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 a decides that the content is a non-reproducible content,and the processing advances to step S660.

On the other hand, at step S656, the second reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 b decidespermission/inhibition of the content of the reproduction object based onthe reproduction control method of the check-in check-out type (stepS656). In particular, the second reproduction permission/inhibitiondecision section 242 b decides permission/inhibition of reproduction ofthe content of the reproduction object based on utilization conditions(reproduction time number restriction, reproduction term and so forth)associated with the content of the reproduction object.

If a result of the decision reveals that the utilization conditions ofthe license described hereinabove are satisfied, then the secondreproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 b decides thatthe content is a reproducible content, and the processing advances tostep S658. On the other hand, if the utilization conditions of thelicense are not satisfied, then the second reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242 b decides that the content isa non-reproducible content, and the processing advances to step S660.

Then at step S658, the content of the reproduction object which has beendecided to be reproducible at step S654 or S656 described hereinabove isdisplayed as a reproducible content (step S658). In particular, thetitle list production section 250 causes the display apparatus 210 todisplay the title information of the content of the display object whichhas been decided to be reproducible in such a form that the user canrecognize that the content is reproducible.

On the other hand, at step S660, the content of the display object whichhas been decided to be non-reproducible at step S654 or S656 describedhereinabove is displayed as a non-reproducible content (step S660). Inparticular, the title list production section 250 causes the displayapparatus 210 to display the title information of the content of thedisplay object which has been decided to be non-reproducible in such aform that the user can recognize that the content is non-reproducible.

Thereafter, at step S662, it is decided whether or not the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision and display processes at steps S652 toS660 described hereinabove have been performed for all of the contentsof the display object (step S662). If the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision and display processes have not beenperformed for some of the contents of the display object, then theprocessing advances to step S664, at which a next content of the displayobject is read out from the content database 234 (step S664).Thereafter, the reproduction permission/inhibition decision and displayprocesses at steps S652 to S660 are executed similarly as describedhereinabove for the next content of the display object. After suchprocesses as described above are repeated for all of the contents of thedisplay object, the processing advances to step S666.

It is to be noted that, at the point of time at which the processingadvances to step S666, a title list on which reproducible contents andnon-reproducible contents can be distinguished from each other isdisplayed on the display apparatus 210. Display examples of the titlelist are shown in FIGS. 56A to 56C.

As shown in FIGS. 56A to 56C, on a title list 710 displayed on thedisplay apparatus 210 of the content reproduction apparatus 20, forexample, titles A to E (tune names) of music contents relating to acertain artist A are displayed for each of the albums A and B. On thetitle list 710, the titles A and C of reproducible contents and thetitles B, D and E of non-reproducible contents are displayed in adistinguishable manner from each other.

In particular, in the example of the title list 710 shown in FIG. 56A,the titles A and C of reproducible contents and the titles B, D and E ofnon-reproducible contents are distinguished from each other by beingdisplayed in different colors or with different luminances. For example,an area 712 in which the titles A and C of reproducible contents aredisplayed and another area 714 in which the titles B, D and E ofnon-reproducible contents are displayed in different colors or withdifferent luminances so that the user can distinguish the reproduciblecontents and the non-reproducible contents from each other. Further,according to such display as just described, where reproducible contentsand non-reproducible contents are included in a mixed state in onealbum, the user can recognize which content in the album is reproducibleand which content is non-reproducible.

On the other hand, in the example of the title list 710 shown in FIG.56B, a reproducible icon 716 of a musical note mark is added to thetitles A and C of reproducible contents while a non-reproducible icon718 of a x mark is added to the titles B, D and E of non-reproduciblecontents. By displaying titles of contents to which icons which aredifferent in color, shape, pattern, size or the like in this manner areadded to the title for each content in this manner, reproduciblecontents and non-reproducible contents can be displayed such that theycan be distinguished from each other.

Further, in the example of the title list 710 shown in FIG. 56C, thetitles A and C of reproducible contents and the titles B, D and E ofnon-reproducible contents are displayed distinctly in different regions.In particular, the titles A and C of reproducible contents are displayedin a reproduction OK area 720 while the titles B, D and E ofnon-reproducible contents are displayed in a non-reproducible area 722.Consequently, the user can distinguish the reproducible contents and thenon-reproducible contents from each other. Further, according to such adisplay example as just described, since reproducible/non-reproduciblecontents of the content reproduction apparatus 20 are displayedcollectively, the user can collectively recognizereproducible/non-reproducible contents in the content reproductionapparatus 20.

Referring back to FIG. 55, at step S666, a content of a reproductionobject would be selected from among the reproducible contents by theuser (step S666). Where the title list is selected on the displayapparatus 210 as described above, the user would read the title list toselect one, two or more contents whose reproduction is desired andoperate the inputting apparatus 208 to designate title information ofthe content or contents. Thereupon, since reproducible contents andnon-reproducible contents are displayed in a distinguishable manner onthe title list as shown in FIGS. 56A to 56C, the user can select anycontent whose reproduction is desired from among the reproduciblecontents.

Thereafter, at step S668, a reproduction instruction would be issued bythe user (step S668). After the user designates title information of adesired content in such a manner as described above, the user woulddepress, for example, the reproduction key of the inputting apparatus208 or the remote controller 218 to issue an instruction to start areproduction process. Consequently, the content selection section 252selects contents corresponding to the title information designated bythe user as contents of a reproduction object and outputs informationrelating to the contents of the reproduction object (content ID, storagelocation information and so forth) to the reproductionpermission/inhibition decision section 242.

Then at step S670, a first one of the selected contents of thereproduction object is read out from the content database 234 (stepS670). In particular, the reproduction permission/inhibition decisionsection 242 searches the content database 234 based on the informationrelating to the contents of the reproduction object inputted from thecontent selection section 252 to read out a file corresponding to afirst one of the contents of the reproduction object. Then, thereproduction permission/inhibition decision section 242 issues aninstruction to the reproduction execution section 244 to reproduce thecontent without making a decision of whether or not reproduction of thecontent should be permitted. This is because, since the contentsselected at step S666 described hereinabove by the user are allreproducible contents, there is no necessity to make a decision ofpermission/inhibition again.

Further, at step S672, the reproduction execution section 244 reproducesthe content of the reproduction object (step S672).

Then at step S674, it is decided whether or not all of the contents ofthe reproduction object selected at step S666 are reproduced (S674). Ifsome content which is not reproduced as yet remains among the selectedcontents, then the processing advances to step S676, at which a next oneof the contents of the reproduction object is read out from the contentdatabase 234 (step S676). Thereafter, the next content of thereproduction object is reproduced (step S672). As such a reproductionprocess as described above is repeated for all of the contents of thereproduction object selected at step S666, the entire processing flow isended.

The content reproduction control method of the content reproductionapparatus (PD) 20 according to the present embodiment is describedabove. In the present content reproduction control process of thecontent reproduction apparatus (PD) 20, it is first determined whetherthe reproduction control method of the content reproduction apparatus 20is the group management type or the check-in check-out type, and thereproduction control (reproduction permission/inhibition decision) ofcontents is performed in accordance with the determined reproductioncontrol method. Therefore, the content reproduction apparatus 20 canselectively execute the two reproduction control methods including thegroup management method and the check-in check-out method. Consequently,the convenience to the user is enhanced, and besides, since there is nonecessity to design and develop content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20of different models for the different reproduction control methods,enhancement in efficiency in developing work and reduction of the costcan be anticipated.

Further, the content reproduction apparatus (PD) 20 can cope not onlywith a copyright management scheme according to the conventionalcheck-in check-out method but also with another copyright managementscheme according to the group management method wherein reproductioncontrol is performed based on a source ID applied to a content and asource ID list. Consequently, it is possible to cope with a copyrightmanagement scheme which is higher in degree of freedom in utilization ofcontents by a user and is further user-friendly.

Further, where an application for managing a copyright management schemewhich is different among different districts is installed into thecontent processing apparatus 10, only if method identificationinformation (flag 232 or the like) corresponding to any of the copyrightmanagement schemes (reproduction control methods) is set in the contentreproduction apparatus 20, then reproduction control of a contenttransferred from the content processing apparatus (PC) 10 in which theapplication is installed can be performed.

Further, the content reproduction apparatus 20 can display a title listof contents held therein such that those contents which can bereproduced and those contents which cannot be reproduced can bedistinguished from each other. Consequently, the user can read thecontent list to grasp the reproducible contents and the non-reproduciblecontents and select a desired content to be reproduced from among thereproducible contents.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described above withreference to the accompanying drawings. However, naturally the presentinvention is not limited to the embodiment described above. It isapparent that various alterations or modifications may be made by thoseskilled in the art within the scope of the invention described in theclaims, and it is to be understood that also such alterations andmodifications naturally fall within the technical scope of the presentinvention.

For example, while, in the embodiment described above, each contentprocessing apparatus (PC) 10 produces a group ID based on useridentification information (leaf ID) received from the server 30, thepresent invention is not limited to this example. For example, theserver 30 may produce a group ID in a unit of a user. In this instance,the group management server 32 may issue, upon registration of eachapparatus, a notification of a group ID in place of a leaf ID to thecontent processing apparatus 10 such that the content processingapparatus 10 stores the received group ID into the source ID list.Further, the content distribution server 34 may transmit a group IDassociated with a distribution content in place of a leaf ID. At thistime, the content distribution server 34 may apply the group ID in afile of the distribution content in advance and transmit the file to thecontent processing apparatus 10.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be applied to a copyright management systemwhich manages the copyright of content data between a plurality ofcontent processing apparatus.

1. A communication system, comprising: a content processing apparatusfor recording and/or reproducing content data, a content reproductionapparatus for reproducing at least the content data, and a managementserver for managing said content processing apparatus and said contentreproduction apparatus, wherein said content processing apparatusincludes a processing unit and a computer-readable storage mediumencoded with computer executable instructions, the instructions, whenexecuted by the processing unit, causes the processing unit to performthe steps of: storing a group ID in a first source ID list; acquiring asecond source ID list stored in said content reproduction apparatus fromsaid content reproduction apparatus; detecting, based on said secondsource ID list acquired by said acquiring step, whether said contentreproduction apparatus is registered in said management server anddetecting whether a recorder ID is included in said acquired secondsource ID list, wherein the recorder ID is used to identify whether saidcontent processing apparatus produced the content data; outputtingnotification information for a recommendation of a registration intosaid management server when it is detected by said detecting step thatsaid content reproduction apparatus is not registered in said managementserver and that the recorder ID corresponding to said content processingapparatus is not included in said second source ID list; transmitting,when a registration instruction of said content reproduction apparatusinto said management server is accepted, registration requestinformation for requesting for the registration of said contentreproduction apparatus to said management server; receiving registrationcompletion information representative of a completion of theregistration transmitted as a response to the registration requestinformation from said management server; adding, upon a reception of theregistration completion information, the group ID stored in said firstsource ID list to said acquired second source ID list; adding, when theregistration instruction of said content reproduction apparatus intosaid management server is not accepted, the recorder ID corresponding tosaid content processing apparatus to said acquired second source IDlist; and transmitting the updated second source ID list to said contentreproduction apparatus; said management server includes a processingunit and a computer-readable storage medium encoded with computerexecutable instructions, when executed by the processing unit of saidmanagement server, causes the processing unit of said management serverto perform the steps of: registering said content reproduction apparatusinto a registration record to the user in response to the registrationrequest information; and transmitting the registration completioninformation representative of the completion of the registration to saidcontent processing apparatus; and said content reproduction apparatusincludes a processing unit and a computer-readable storage mediumencoded with computer executable instructions, when executed by theprocessing unit of said content reproduction apparatus, causes theprocessing unit of said content reproduction apparatus to perform thesteps of: receiving the content data wherein the content data includes asource ID; receiving the updated second source ID list from said contentprocessing apparatus; receiving a reproduction request to reproduce thecontent data; upon receiving the reproduction request, controlling thereproduction of the content data based on the received second source IDlist.
 2. The communication system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: when said detecting step detects a recorder ID correspondingto a different content processing apparatus in said second source IDlist possessed by said content reproduction apparatus and besidesdetects that content data transferred from the different contentprocessing apparatus does not exist in said content reproductionapparatus, erasing the recorder ID corresponding to the differentcontent processing apparatus in said acquired second source ID list andadding the recorder ID corresponding to said content processingapparatus to said acquired second source ID list.
 3. The communicationsystem according to claim 1, further comprising: when said detectingstep detects a recorder ID corresponding to a different contentprocessing apparatus in said second source ID list and besides detectsthat content data transferred from the different content processingapparatus exists in said content reproduction apparatus, outputtingnotification information for a recommendation of an erasure of thecontent data transferred from the different content processingapparatus, and after the erasure of the content data transferred fromthe different content processing apparatus is detected by said detectingstep, erasing the recorder ID corresponding to the different contentprocessing apparatus in said acquired second source ID list and addingthe recorder ID corresponding to said content processing apparatus tosaid acquired second source ID list.